The Standard Info on Tree Roses

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Robert J. Dolezal

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Tree roses make great sentinels along the perimeter of a flower garden.

What could be lovelier than a shrub rose? A shrub rose that’s brought to eye level! While horticulturists and nursery professionals typically refer to these types of roses (which are carefully grafted shrubs) as “standards,” the rest of the gardening community just knows them as “tree roses.” Regardless of names, one thing is certain: They’re beautiful plants.

Tree roses make ideal accompaniments to paths and border edgings, and they’re popular in many landscape settings. These high-power beauties are also good choices for container plants in small-space gardens, on decks and patios, at entrances and in sunny indoor locations. Because of their symmetry and classic form, standards are well-suited for formal geometric rose gardens, such as the Italianate and French rose gardens popular in Europe. In these settings, the plants are usually used to define corners, line long walkways, surround a fountain, accent a statue or flank an entrance.

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It’s important to know the different parts of your tree rose so can protect it properly when the cold season arrives.

Home gardeners should be able to find most popular rose varieties grafted into standards: hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, miniatures, plus many of the heritage roses. Specific cultivars may be difficult to find for your garden, however, since garden centers and nurseries reserve their limited space for the most popular plants each season. Of course, if you have your heart set on a certain bloom, many garden centers can special-order it for you upon request, and direct retailers also can ship standards as bare-roots in winter or early spring.

While tree roses vary in variety and appearance, always select quality plants for outstanding features: bloom, fragrance or foliage. Remember, their eye-level growth habit naturally draws attention, and unusual, striking specimens will surprise and garner the interest of passersby. Choose contrasting color combinations for maximum effect, coordinate the planting with nearby structures, and remember that “less is more” when creating standard groupings.

Finally, be prepared for a little extra rose care – tree roses require a bit more TLC than do other types of roses, including regular pruning to preserve their round, treelike appearance. Standards are also vulnerable when young, before their grafts have developed sufficient strength to ward off strong winds. To help them along in their youth, install stakes to support them. Finally, because their grafts are vulnerable to damage from cold, standards always require protection from freezing. While these special plants require special care, the unique beauty tree roses provide makes it all well-worth it!

Facts

A standard rose is created by bud grafting three different plants together: sturdy rootstock similar to that used for many grafted hybrid tea and floribunda shrubs; a long-caned, climbing variety to function as the “tree trunk”; and a flowering hybrid that will produce the desired blooms of the featured variety.
Planting two parallel rows of tree roses along a path or driveway mimics a long-popular landscape tree-planting style along roads and long driveways called an allée (French, for “avenue,” a reference to tree-lined streets common in Europe).

Tips

Prune the varietal head of tree roses as you would a shrub, leaving a rounded, symmetrical form and eliminating any suckers from the understock or trunk.

Come to The Garden Party and share your rose garden with the rest of our Learn2Grow community! You can join the Rocky Mountain Rose Lovers Group, post some pictures of your garden roses, create a blog, or learn from our experts and other home gardeners some more ways to get these beloved bloomers to prosper in your yard.

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