Rosa "Don Juan", 2 l pot

• Type: Climbing rose
• Latin name: Rosa
• Cultivar: Don Juan
• Mature height: 300–400 cm
• Width: 100 cm
• Pot: 2 L
• 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 1.5–2 m 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 In the first years prune little, train and tie side shoots horizontally (this gives more flowers); in spring shorten flowered side shoots to 2–3 buds and remove old, dead and weak shoots.

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 take the shoots off the support, bend them down, cover with spruce boughs and fleece and mound soil 20–25 cm up the base; wintering on the support without cover is unsuitable.