Today’s Garden Ideas

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The Don Juan rose is a climbing rose that looks wonderful on a trellis. The Don Juan Climbing Rose will also cover a wall or fence quickly and effectively. The flowers are a bright red, very fragrant and up to 5 inches wide. This red rose is a great cutting flower and looks beautiful in a vase. Don Juan Climbing Roses are used primarily as a backdrop for gardens. For the Don Juan Rose to grow its best it will need plenty of support in the form of a trellis, fence, or wall.

Planting Locations

Don Juan Roses look spectacular placed at the back of a flowerbed on a low wide trellis. Weaving Don Juan Roses in and out of a post and rail fence creates the look of a wave of blood red roses crashing into the shore that is your garden. This climbing rose is also great at hiding an eyesore like a cyclone fence.

Plant Buddies

Don Juan Roses look best with plants that contrast its blood red blooms or provide color to the climbing rose between flowering periods. Try training white Clematis to grow beside the Don Juan Rose for a very dramatic effect. By placing small Evergreens next to this rose it will draw attention from its bare branches in the winter.

Purchasing & Planting

Purchase Don Juan as a bareroot plant. Be sure the rose plant your purchase looks healthy and has 3 or more good-sized canes or stems. Do not buy Don Juan Roses with brown brittle canes. Also stay away from scraggly looking canes as these can be a sign this climbing rose plant is dying.

Once your purchase your roses dig a hole about 9 inches deep and large enough around so the roots can spread out. Ad a few shovelfuls of compost and form a mound in the center of the hole. Place the rose plant roots over the mound so the area where the stems join the roots sits at ground level. Fill the hole with soil. Be sure to firm down the soil and sprinkle a general rose food around the base of this climbing rose. Top off with about 1 1\2 inches of pine bark and water well.

Plant Care Tips
When new growth first appears remove the pine bark. Fertilize with a high nitrogen general fertilizer after the buds have developed. Prune off flowers after the first bloom to promote further flower development. Attach growing canes to their support. To get the most blooms train this rose to grow horizontally. This will increase bud production.

Don Juan Roses prefer 6 hours of sun but can get by with ½ day of sun. The Don Juan Rose needs a lot of nutrients. Try using well-rotted manure or good compost mixed into the soil before planting. Don Juan likes nitrogen rich rabbit food pellets. Sprinkle these around the base of the plant. When you wish to cut some of these roses be sure to snip at an angle and place them in lukewarm water.

The Don Juan Rose can get mildewed. Mildew is a fungus that looks like white powder on the buds and leaves. Destroy the infected plant parts and spray with a fungicide.

Seasonal Care

For seasonal care of these roses begin in fall. Mulch you established Don Juan Roses and be sure the canes are tied securely. In late winter or early spring buy and plant bareroot roses. Fertilize the older roses as the leaf buds begin to grown. In summer deadhead the old faded flowers and prune back branches that held the blooms. Leave only 2-5 leaf clusters on the plant. Next spring prune lightly after the roses first year. This will encourage cane growth.

Quick Facts

Don Juan Climbing Roses will grow up to 12 feet wide and over 9 feet tall. They have a wonderful fragrance and are fairly disease resistant. Don Juan roses are great cutting flowers that bloom all summer. These climbing roses grow best in zones 3-8 in full sun and well-drained soil.