July 2016 | Potted Rose is Houseplant of the month

The elegant Potted Rose is the Houseplant of the month for July. Summery, romantic and an excellent 'just stick one of those in as well' product, get your customers excited about potted roses by highlighting this bloomer in your store.

The story behind the potted Rose

Rosa is an old Latin plant name for the rose. Potted roses are part of this family, and as such they symbolise love, passion, unity and friendship. The primary association with roses is with cut flowers, but potted roses offer the same romantic mood and emotion. Roses originate from the northern hemisphere, particularly China and Europe. The name 'rose' is derived from the Celtic word 'rhodd', which means 'red'. Many roses originally had red flowers, but growers have been able to create all sorts of other colours. Most commonly they produced the potted rose - a perfect miniature of the large shrub - with colours such as pink, orange, yellow, white, purple and bi-colour.

Production of potted roses

Potted roses as a houseplant are relatively new to the range of flowers and plants. The plants are produced in large modern nurseries where they are grown in large numbers. The process from cutting to finished product lasts 14 to 16 weeks and is carefully monitored in order to deliver as healthy a plant as possible.

Choice of potted roses

The potted rose can be used indoors as a houseplant, but can also be placed in the garden in the summer, in both beds and pots. The wide variety of colours and flower sizes makes it a popular plant with many consumers. This popularity is also thanks to a considerable improvement in the range and innovations. It's a classic 'wrap it and go' plant which also does well as a gift and as a flowering plant for special days.
The varied range of potted roses is marketed by 5 or 6 different potted rose growers, almost all of whom supply their own range, usually with a mix of colours: red, orange, yellow, white, pink, lilac, salmon, bi-coloured and scented varieties. Potted roses are often sold by colour with the name of the series or range to which the colour belongs. Common series include Parade, PatioHit and Palace.

Care tips for customers

• With the right care a potted rose can flower profusely for a long time. The plant prefers a light spot both indoors and outdoors, and cannot cope with drying out: the soil should always be slightly damp.
• Plant food or special rose food is recommended once every two to three weeks to keep it flowering profusely for a long time.
• Carefully remove exhausted flowers. Make sure that the buds are thereby not damaged.
• When the plant has finished flowering indoors, the potted rose can be pruned back to approx. five centimetres above the soil and be planted in a bed outdoors or be placed in a pot on the balcony or patio. The potted rose will then flower vigorously again as a garden rose after about two months.
• When used as a garden plant, the potted rose can be pruned in February down to 5 cm above the ground. The plant will then flower outdoors from May to October.
• The potted rose is purely for decoration and is not suitable for consumption.