How To Grow A Rose Plant Faster: Top Tips For Quick-Growing Blooms

Impatiently waiting for your precious roses to burst forth with color and lush fragrance? Follow our expert guide on how to grow a rose plant faster

rose bush in summer sunshine with deep pink blooms
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For anyone who is passionate about roses, knowing how to grow a rose plant faster can quickly become a strong ambition. Whether you are cultivating a sea of roses in a dedicated bed or just after filling in that blank spot in your garden, their fragrant floral beauty will be much longed for once they are planted. So for anyone starting a rose garden, it will be hard to wait patiently for those first buds to burst forth.

Established rose specimens grace containers, arbors and borders with unmatched character. It’s easy to understand why rose growers get frustrated when new plants struggle to establish themselves, or when their growth progresses at a snail’s pace. Fortunately, a little patience and know-how can help you hone your expectations. Follow these expert tips for growing a rose plant faster.

heirloom rose Louise Odier in bloom

(Image credit: Deborah Vernon / Alamy)

Rose Varieties Most Likely to Grow Faster

How fast does a rose grow? It’s nearly impossible to answer this question succinctly since some species are much more likely to grow faster than others. If you’re hoping to quickly establish perennial beds you may want to choose from some different rose cultivars. Consider heirlooms, climbing or rambling roses, as well as many more recent introductions that have been specifically bred for use in the landscape.

Knowing how to grow roses faster often also involves selecting a vigorous rose variety with a reputation for blooming in a shorter time frame. Some reliable roses known to produce flowers in a relatively quicker time frame include climbing ‘New Dawn’ and ‘Eden’, or heirloom ‘Reine des Violettes’. Or why not try North American native ‘Nootka’?

How Do You Speed up Rose Growth?

Determining how to speed up rose growth is obviously aided by understanding their fundamental needs. Rose plants grow a lot more quickly if all their needs are being met with the correct frequency and at the right time. Most garden roses thrive when they receive full sun through the day. Therefore, planting rose bushes in shaded beds often results in poor flower production, or plants that are especially tall or leggy.

Moisture also plays a role in rose growth, so correct rose watering is key. If you want to know how to get roses to grow faster, these shrubs benefit from deep watering at the root zone on a weekly basis. Routine feeding supports good plant growth and the development of flowers. Use a balanced fertilizer in early spring, just as shrubs begin to leaf. Feeding can continue through summer, with four weeks between each application.

rose bush being pruned during dormancy

(Image credit: Liubov Yashkir / Getty Images)

Can You Cut Roses for Faster Growth?

To speed up rose growth, you should consider pruning roses as a viable option. As well as hastening growth, this is one of the key ways to grow the best roses in your garden. Late winter or early spring is the best time to prune roses. Trimming back the plants before they have broken dormancy helps to initiate rapid growth when warmer temperatures arrive.

You can feel free to do minor pruning tasks throughout the flowering season, though. This can include deadheading or removing the blooms for arranging in bouquets or cut flower arrangements.

What Slows Down Rose Growth

As well as knowing how to nudge the blooming season along, it can also help to know some of the ways in which rose growth can slow down, or stop altogether. This can help you to avoid some of the big pitfalls of rose growth. Retardation of growth most frequently applies to rose bushes affected by disease such as rose mosaic virus, or those showing signs of severe infestation or problem insects.

Stunted growth and deformity in roses are also symptoms of different fungal infections, such as powdery mildew or downy mildew. Though minor instances can often be treated or controlled, more severe cases can lead to the loss of plants. Diagnosing problems quickly is essential to preventing their spread and securing the overall health of rose beds.

mixed color rose bushes growing in rose bed

(Image credit: Gary Matuschka / Shutterstock)

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Coffee Grounds Good For Roses?

When contemplating how to make a rose grow faster, you might consider using coffee grounds – but do so carefully. Like other home remedies for the garden, there’s the potential to do more harm than good. Little evidence has been found to support claims of coffee ground benefits for roses, such as their ability to acidify soil or their use as a fertilizer. Contact your local extension office or garden center to learn about the best rose fertilizers and composts or mulches for growing roses.

Does Epsom Salt Help Roses Grow?

Epsom salts are said to be helpful in keeping roses healthy. While there’s little research available to support these claims, it does support magnesium in the soil, which can help with blooms. Rosarians who treat plants with Epsom salts report using one tablespoon per gallon of water applied directly to garden soil in early spring.

Tonya Barnett
Writer

Tonya Barnett has been gardening for 13 years. Flowers are her passion. She has trasformed her backyard into a cut flower garden, which she regularly chronicles on her YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/@tonyawiththeflowers.