10 Things to Do With Your Roses in June for Bigger Blooms and a Much Longer Flowering Season

I don’t know a single person who doesn’t love roses, do you? They are so romantic, some have an amazing fragrance, they come in so many colors and combinations, shapes and – they are marathon bloomers! They grace your garden with flowers for months on end!

…At least, most types, like shrub, climbing English shrub, floribunda, elegant hybrid tea types of roses – well, once they start blooming in late spring, it’s impossible to stop them till fall!

Or is it? If you treat your roses badly, they may “take umbrage” and stop flowering altogether, or maybe they will take long breaks till you realize your mistake.

On the contrary, if you treat them well and you know what to do with them at the peak of their blooming season, they will grow new buds and open new blooms till fall.

“And when is the peak of the blooming season for roses,” you may ask? It is June, so right now!

June is a key month for roses; if you know what to do now, your garden will shine with their beauty for months on end.

Now, we need to understand why June is so important. Put yourself in the shoes of a rose, take an English shrub variety, for example. You are actually a small bush, with small leaves, prone to all sorts of diseases and yet producing a huge display of sometimes even massive blooms…

It can’t be easy, and you would need a lot of tender loving care and energy at this stage, if you were a rose. But as you are a gardener, you need to understand your glorious blooming beauty, their vegetative life cycle, and their needs.

But don’t worry; I am here to help you.

1. Feed Your Roses During Their First Blooming Flush

You guessed it; your roses are very hungry at this stage. Note that their blooming pattern is not fully continuous, they go in waves, or flushes. You will get loads of blooms, then they take a breather, and they either slow down or stop altogether.

You know, roses are all particular and different from other flowering plants. You’d expect them to need lots of potassium to boost their flowering when they are in full bloom (end of May and June) – but no!

Roses want a balanced diet at this stage. I’ll tell you the reason; they need to strengthen their stems or canes as well, so that they can produce and hold their heavy blossoms.

So, you should give them a well-balanced, organic slow-release fertilizer, with NPK 10-10-10 to start with. Compost or well rotten manure are perfectly fine. A 1 to 2-inch layer (2.5 to 5.0 cm) is what they need, depending on how fertile your soil is.

Make sure you cover all the area of the roots. “Yes, but they are underground, how do I know where they end?” Look at the furthest branches from the center of the plant – that’s also the extension or your rose underground.

You can go a bit further if you wish…

You should do this as soon as they start blooming; if you haven’t yet, do it now.

We’ll come back to “giving regular snacks” to your blooming roses soon, but first…

2. Give Your Roses Some “Health Supplements”

Many people suffer from fatigue and stress when the seasons change (I do), and we don’t even need to grow blossoms… So, what do we do? We take health supplements. These are often minerals or herbal remedies. Your roses need them more than we do in June.  

These “medicines” are what we call “trace nutrients”because plants and roses only need very small quantities of them; however, without them, they risk getting sick.

These are iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron, molybdenum, chlorine, nickel, cobalt, silicon, selenium, sodium, vanadium and iodine.

There are booster products available with trace nutrients, but you can also go the natural (and cheaper) way, with:

• Seaweed meal; it contains potassium and a wide range of trace elements including iron, manganese, zinc, boron, copper, molybdenum, and iodine. Use ¼ cup for small shrub roses, ½ for medium sized ones, and ½ to 2.5 for climbers, depending on their size;once now is enough for a year.
•  Liquid kelp feed; it contains similar trace elements to seaweed meal, plus plant growth stimulant. It is fast-release, so you will have to give it to your roses every 2 to 4 weeks, diluted in water. Use ¼ to ½ gallon for shrub varieties and ½ to 1 gallon for climbers and ramblers.
• Comfrey tea; it is very rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and trace minerals. ¼ to ½ gallons diluted in water for shrubs, ½ to 1 gallon for climbers and ramblers, every 2 to 3 weeks when your roses are flowering.
• Wood Ash; it contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron, manganese, and other trace elements; on top of that, it sterilizes the soil. However, use it sparingly because it makes the soil alkaline (and don’t use it with soils with high pH). A tablespoon or two for shrub roses, 2 to 4 tablespoons for climbers and ramblers, once or twice a year.
• Basalt rock dust; it is rich in iron, manganese, zinc, copper, molybdenum, cobalt, nickel, silicon, and many other trace elements; it is slow release and you need ½ to 1 cup for shrub roses and 1 cup to 2.5 for climbers and ramblers, only once a year.
• Greensand; it contains potassium, iron, magnesium, and numerous trace minerals. ½ to 1 cup for shrub varieties and twice for climbers, once a year.

“Can I use a cocktail of slow-release supplement fertilizers?” Yes, you can, but keep the dosage low; as you see, most require ¼ to 1 cup for shrub roses and twice from climbers. Make sure that the whole weight of your mix does not exceed that. Plants can suffer from nutrient deficiency (they lack minerals), but also the opposite, nutrient toxicity (too many).

Why am I so particular about giving “supplements” to roses? Simple, they are not healthy plants, in fact, they are very disease prone.

3. Deadhead Your Roses’ Spent Blooms

Don’t leave those faded blooms hanging on your roses! I know, when you have dozens of flowers open at once, it’s easy to ignore a few browning petals here and there. But your roses certainly won’t ignore them.

You see, a rose has only one goal in life: to reproduce. Once a flower starts fading, the plant believes its job is done. Instead of putting its energy into producing fresh buds and new flowers, it starts working on seeds and rose hips.

And that’s exactly what we don’t want in June.

Remember, June is peak rose season. Your plants should be focused entirely on blooming, not on thinking about the next generation. By removing spent flowers promptly, you gently convince your roses that their work isn’t finished yet. The result? More buds, more flowers, and a much longer display.

If your rose flowers in clusters, don’t rush to remove the whole stem as soon as one bloom fades. Individual flowers often age at different speeds. Simply snip off the spent bloom, leaving the younger buds to continue their show.

Once the entire cluster has finished flowering, it’s time for a slightly deeper cut. Follow the flowering stem down until you find the first strong leaf with five leaflets. This is usually where your rose has enough energy stored to push out vigorous new growth.

Using clean, sharp secateurs, cut about ¼ inch (6 mm) above that leaf. Angle the cut slightly so rainwater runs away from the bud rather than sitting on the wound.

While you’re there, take a moment to look at the overall shape of the shrub. Any stems sticking awkwardly above the rest can be shortened slightly to keep your rose neat, balanced and full.

I usually walk around my roses every few days in June with a pair of secateurs in hand. It only takes a few minutes, but the difference is remarkable. A well-deadheaded rose rarely takes a long break; it simply gathers its strength and prepares for the next spectacular flush of blooms.

4. Give Your Blooming Roses Frequent “Light Snacks”

So, have you given your roses the “big balanced meal” and some “supplements” to sustain them during the blooming season? For best flowering results, this is not enough. You will also need to feed them some light snacks, with an organic fast-release liquid fertilizer.

This will give your roses regular boosts, so that its blooms have constant energy to flower and keep strong.

Start about 2 to 3 weeks after you have fed your balanced, slow-release fertilizer. Use a low nitrogen and low nutrient liquid product, with NPK  4-6-8 or 5-10-10. You can dilute it in water (check the instructions for the quantity). Keep going till the blooms stop or you only get a few.

Actually, I prefer to use half the suggested dosage every week; it gives my roses more constant nutrition.

Many gardeners use tomato fertilizer, which works well, as it has a typical NPK of around 4-6-8, or similar. If you have it in your cupboard…

5. Encourage Long-Lasting Blooms after the First Big Flush

Your roses’ first big flush will start in May and fade by the end of June. It depends on the variety and on the climate. A heat wave will definitely weaken them and you will see fewer flowers, for example. However, when you see that it is over (it may be later, in July, in cold areas), you want to “tease them” to start again soon.

And there’s a “magic product” to do it: Epsom salt. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons for shrub roses, 2 to 4 for bigger climbers and ramblers. If you want it to act fast, dilute it in water, and the queen of your garden will “get the message” (magnesium) in a few days…

You can also put the water and Epsom salt mix in a spray bottle and spray the leaves. Yes, roses, like all plants, also eat through their foliage.

But magnesium alone is not enough; you need to feed phosphorus (for flowers) and potassium 8for strength) to your rose to get it to bloom again. You can use your liquid tomato fertilizer here, a good full dose when the flush is over, then half every week.

Other fertilizers you can use the same way as the tomato one can have these NPK ratios:  4-5-8, 4-6-8, 5-5-10.

Ok, we’ve gone through the whole June menu to get your roses to give you long and generous blooms; they are like stars, quite demanding! Now, let’s quench their thirst…

6. Water Your Roses Deeply and Regularly

June can be a hot month, so you need to be careful about how, how much and how often you water your roses. Irrigate them deeply rather than often and at surface level; this is the key rule.

Here’s how to do it:

• Check that the 2 to 4 inches (5.0 to 10 cm) of soil at the top are dry.
• This can happen every 3 to 7 days, depending on your region; during heatwaves, it could be every 2 to 4 days.
• For a shrub rose, use 2.5 to 5 gallons of water (10 to 20 liters).
• For a large, established shrub rose, use 6 gallons of water (24 liters).
• For climbers use 5 to 10 gallons (20 to 40 liters) of water.

The best time to water roses is very early in the morning, between 5 and 9 AM; alternatively, you can irrigate them at sunset.

Finally, always use water at room temperature (or is it garden temperature?) Sudden changes can affect the blooms!

7. Select the Bigger Buds if Necessary

If your rose (or one of them) is a floribunda, polyantha, grandiflora or spray variety, it will grow many buds at the end of each stem. The problem is that not all of them may bloom. It really depends on the weather and climate, as well as on the strength of your plant.

When you see that some buds really have no chance of flowering, and that they are thin, weak and maybe even drying up or darkening, use a sterile blade and cut these unlucky ones. They are usually the most external or lower ones.

8. Be Prepared for a Heatwave

June can have bad surprises in store for you, like hail; but one that is really bad for your roses is a heatwave. So, be prepared!

You can get 50% shading nets, but also old sheets, curtains and other large cloths can work very well. Be ready to tie them on posts and shade your roses in case, especially in the afternoon.

Now, during a heatwave all watering rules are suspended – you can irrigate them even in the afternoon. Don’t worry about sunlight, “full Sun” means 6 hours a day, so, the mornings will be enough in June. But remember the “garden temperature” rule we saw in the previous section.

Do not spray your roses during or just before sunset. If you do, your roses’ leaves will burn (droplets act like lenses). Do it late in the evening if the day has been really hot and you want to freshen up your flowering beauties.

Mulch doesn’t only keep the soil warm in winter; it also keeps it fresh and humid in summer.

Lay at least 2 inches (5.0 cm) quality mulch, like bark or wood chips all around your roses; protecting their roots means bigger and longer blooms!

9. Check Regularly for Pests and Diseases

Roses are gorgeous and generous, but they are not really lucky in terms of health… Aphids and other parasites love them, they catch lots of molds and fungi and they even hurt themselves with their own thorns (or “prickles”, correctly)!

Constant monitoring is absolutely essential, as is prevention. Personally, every now and then (at least once a month, usually every fortnight), I spray my roses with neem oil: it deters and kills parasites, it prevents and eliminates molds and fungi.

Take a spray bottle, fill it with water, add 1 or 2 teaspoons o neem oil per liter (1/4 gallon) of water, add a squeeze of natural liquid soap and soak your roses thoroughly. Do it late in the evening.

10. Prune Suckers

If you want your roses to produce lots and long-lasting blooms, you must absolutely prune any suckers. They will not produce buds, and they will use an awful lot of energy.

You will recognize them because they grow straight, upward, fast and they keep green for long. In roses, they come from the base (rootstock) of your plant.

Sterilize your pruning shears (or secateurs) before you work on every plant, and cut the suckers as close to the rootstock as possible.

Now Your Roses Will Bloom Profusely and for Months on End!

I know, roses are demanding, but I can’t even imagine a garden without at least one. June is a key month to keep them healthy and blooming. The good news is, now you know how to!