Why do roses droop like this?

I have long struggled to avoid roses that have stems too weak to hold the roses up properly. I have googled it often, and it seems some people think it is ok.

Beautiful roses, but what is the point of them drooping? (These roses are not mine, I just thought they were a good example of what I mean.

 

I suspect its due to breeding of varieties to maximise the size of bloom without revising the engineering to hold their heads up proudly, when you consider the size/weight of a dog rose.

 

@infradig, that sounds probable. They are huge double flowers, that are beautiful, when you find a flower that isn't drooping yet. I try to avoid double flowered roses. Single and semi-double roses are better for bees and pollinators anyway, and less likely to droop.

I did wonder for a while if the trick is to underplant them with something that supports them, but having found drooping roses so frustrating I just avoid big double flowered roses.

 

I've never really noticed a rose doing that before other than after heavy rain.

 

I took the photograph two days ago, and it hasn't rained much for a couple of weeks.

I have seen it a lot, it is very frustrating.

 

Some of our roses had this and I put it down to too much vigorous growth due to my heavy handed use of fertilizer. I now feed spairingly and mulch to retain moisture which seems to have helped.

 

I think it depends on the variety. Many old roses will have so heavy flowers, that they'll look down from the weight.

 

Absolutely, and I'll go further - with some varieties it's a deliberate design feature, rather than a fault! The Victorians loved 'nodding roses'; this is a nice article about them with some lovely photos. David Austin must have appreciated them too, quite a few of his varieties have nodding/ drooping/ tumbling blooms.

 

We have two rose bushes that droop. We always thought that perhaps we had been sold climbing roses instead of bush roses. We also thought that perhaps it was because we were pruning them incorrectly.

in the picture it is the one in front that is drooping. The rose behind it is of the Austin variety. Unfortunately it was never pruned last year in Oct and again in March. We normally do it every year, but due to issues did not do it this time around.

Anyway back to the drooping roses. Can we assume it is a proper rose bush as roses are not cheap to buy.



PS. Also can someone please give us a link to the best way to pruning roses as not sure if we are doing it right? Thanks.

 

I'm not a rose expert but it doesn't look to me as if there's anything wrong with it. It doesn't even look in need of watering.
Maybe it needs pruning, or more probably it could be a climber and need support.
Do you have its name ? That would help find some information about it.

 

The flowers don't look well supported by the stems. I would guess the growth is too sappy, which means you need less nitrogen in the feed, and more potassium to mature the wood in the stems.
I grow Buddlejas and not roses - so my advice comes with that caveat - I use potassium sulphate without any nitrogen if the plants look a little too lush. Potassium also encourages better flowering.

 

Sorry we bought it a few years ago so no idea of its name. I am referring to the rose bush in the foreground.

Can you please recommend a product brand or name to help strengthen the stems?

Thanks that is really helpful advice. This year we have had far fewer blooms than previous years. Unfortunately the rose in the background had blackspot which we will be treating with Rose clear ultra after we have stripped off the affected leaves and destroyed them. First time we have had blackspot on any of our roses. We will be treating our other roses which are all about 8 or more years old. Hopefully the new rose bushes in the rear garden will be unaffected.

 

Yes I know, so was I