The timeless and beautiful old roses of our grandmother’s flower gardens are enjoying a surge of interest. We see it in the new shrub roses known as Knock Out roses and the beautiful shrub roses of David Austin.

Roses were once thought of as difficult to cultivate taking hours of maintenance and a great deal of specialized knowledge. New cultivars, available now at our garden centers, offer the new rosarian, roses they can grow and enjoy for years to come.

The English shrub rose combines the modern hybrid rose with the fragrance and the multi-petal flower of the old roses. These roses may bloom once a summer or bloom constantly. Roses are tough plants that will thrive if we choose those varieties suitable to our climate and garden situation. These simple tips should keep your roses blooming and thriving. Most roses require good ventilation, soil that is rich in nutrients and at least four hours of sun a day.

For happy healthy roses, water the rose well before planting. Dig a bowl-shaped hole you have prepared with good organic matter and is large enough to accommodate the rose.

After you have planted your rose mulch with compost within two inches of the stem of the plant. Water your rose daily until it is well established. After that, water as needed. Remove faded blooms back to the first set of healthy leaves to keep the garden tidy and to encourage repeat flowering. Fertilize your roses in early spring and then in mid-summer. Do not fertilize roses after Aug. 1. The roses are getting ready for their season of rest.

A group of rose lovers, called rose rustlers, are gardeners who love old roses also known as antique or heirloom roses. The rustlers visit old cemeteries or abandoned homesteads on a rescue mission to save and preserve old roses. If you find an old rose always ask permission before taking a cutting of the rose. Sometimes a rose is growing along a road obviously on its own or is growing in an old cemetery where asking permission is not possible.

To rescue an old rose, take a 3- or 4- inch cutting including a few leaves. Moisten the rose with a damp paper towel and place it in a small plastic bag. Plant the cutting to a depth of 1¢ inches in good quality potting soil. The soil should be wet but not soggy. Place a plastic bag loosely over the cutting to create a terrarium and place the rose in an east facing window, watching carefully that it does not overheat with too much sun. In two to three months the rose should be ready to move to the garden.

Beautiful roses impart a timeless beauty to our home gardens. If you are just getting started ask the staff at the garden center to start you off with the easiest rose they have. As your collection of roses grow, and it will because one is never enough, your love of this beautiful plant will give you hours of enjoyment.

Rebecca Norton Ryan is Penn State Master Gardener and member of Warren Garden Club