Rosa "A Whiter Shade of Pale"

• Type: Rose
• Latin name: Rosa
• Cultivar: A Whiter Shade of Pale
• Mature height: 0.6–0.9 m
• Light: sunny
• Winter hardiness: USDA 5–9 (with winter protection in Estonia)

Planting Plant in spring (May) or autumn (September) in a sunny, airy, sheltered spot with fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil; sites with standing water are unsuitable. Dig a hole about 40–50 cm deep, mix the soil with compost and plant so the graft union sits 3–5 cm below soil level; water generously. Space plants 50–60 cm apart.

Watering Water less often but generously (10–15 l per plant), at the roots and preferably in the morning – leaves should not stay wet, which helps prevent leaf spot and powdery mildew. Mulch the soil with compost or bark.

Pruning Prune in spring (when forsythia blooms) back to 3–5 buds and remove dead, weak and crossing shoots; deadhead in summer.

Feeding and winter care Feed in spring with a rose fertiliser and repeat in late June – July; stop nitrogen in mid-August and give a potassium-rich fertiliser so the shoots ripen before winter. In autumn (late October – November) mound dry soil or compost 20–25 cm up the base of the bush and cover with spruce boughs; remove the cover gradually in spring once hard frosts have passed.