Pruning Rose Bush with no Flowers

Question

My Fairy Rose has grown into a huge shrub that is covered with rosehips, but no flowers. Would pruning help?

Answer 1

Fairy rose is a polyantha rose bush. This type of rose is pruned every year in early spring before leaves appear. This allows a balance of new and old canes. It sounds like you had a nice crop of roses with the first flush in June. If you are in an area with extraordinary heat this summer, which roses don’t like, blooming may stall out. Water requirements go up to as much as 2 inches/weekly. Two other things to consider are whether dead-heading would stimulate blooming and rethinking how you are feeding the shrub. Roses need fertilizer; in some soils annual additions of manure may suffice. However, too much nitrogen favors leafy growth over bloom production. If you follow the fertilizer container instructions, you are likely fine. All plants have one main goal; to reproduce through seed or suckers. Once that is achieved, the urge to bloom diminishes. Dead-heading polyanthas is easy since you remove the entire cluster 1/4 inch above a 5 leaflet leaf. Hard pruning now will stress the plant right when it is limping through the heat of summer. Trimming out weak, spindly growth and any dead, diseased or damaged canes is a good idea. I would remove the rose hips now and leave late summer/early fall blooms on the plant to have rose hips (seed) at the end of the season. Here is more information on growing polyantha roses. https://www.finegardening.com/plant/polyantha-rose-rosa-fairy