How to Plant, Grow, and Care For Disneyland Roses

Floribunda roses are a hybrid created by crossing a polyantha with a tea rose for a beautiful melding of qualities. Like tea roses, floribundas are fragrant and large, though they aren’t usually as large as their tea parent. Like polyanthas, they have a low-growing, cluster-blooming habit. This leads to a spectacular, fragrant, beautiful floral display, often more than once a year. 

The name floribunda comes from the profusion of blooms it produces. The blooms are open, and the plants are low and shrubby. The flowers are nice for cut arrangements, but they don’t have the tall, stately stems of the tea rose. 

Disneyland Rose Overview

Plant Type Perennial shrub Family Rosaceae Genus Rosa Species Floribunda	Native Area Hybrid Exposure Full sun Height 2.5’-4’ Watering Requirements Moderate	Pests & Diseases Leafspot, black spot, powdery mildew, RRV, nematode, aphids Maintenance Moderate Soil Type Rich, well-drained, slightly acidic Hardiness Zone 5-9

What Are Disneyland Roses?

The Disneyland rose, chosen in 2004, is as special as they come. Disney has a reputation for beautiful landscaping using only the most beautiful and carefully selected cultivars. The floribunda selected to grace the famous theme park had to be spectacular and memorable. It also needed to be sturdy and disease-resistant. The chosen rose is a multi-colored wonder with all the memorable qualities that you would want from a Disney experience. 

Characteristics

As a floribunda, Disneyland rose is a low-growing shrub with a cluster-blooming habit. Its nearly continuous blooms are multicolored, in shades of pink, apricot, orange, and magenta. They have a glowing quality and a signature, spicy scent that lingers in the air and memory.

This cultivar blooms repeatedly throughout the warmer months. It’s not just a repeat bloomer; it flowers heavily and consistently. Planted throughout the park, this rose is disease-resistant and positively breathtaking. 

Native Area

Disneyland roses are the work of hybridizers Dr. Keith Zary and John Walder. Introduced and selected in 2004, they’re easy to grow and care for and make an excellent container cultivar. 

Planting

Spring is the ideal time for planting roses, especially if they are bare root. You can plant potted roses in the fall as well, but they need some time to establish roots before entering their winter dormancy.

Southern exposure is ideal for roses. Otherwise, full sun early in the day is best, with some protection in the afternoon, particularly in hot climates. Amend your soil before planting to enrich and loosen it. 

When you plant, make sure that the graft juncture is below the ground to avoid the rootstock from sending up suckers. Always water a rose thoroughly and deeply to promote deep roots. Finish off with a layer of mulch to hold in moisture and insulate the roots. 

If you’re planting a bare-root rose, dig your hole and form a mound of soil at the bottom. Soak the roots before planting and spread them over the mound loosely before backfilling and watering. Bury the graft union under the soil to prevent the rootstock from growing.

Growing From Seed

You can grow these plants from seeds, but it’s typically not done. The seeds will not necessarily breed true to the parent plant, so it’s more popular to grow from stem cuttings or by grafting. Planted from seeds, it will take two to three years for your plants to bloom. Grafted roses or roses grown from cuttings should bloom in the same year. 

If you want to experiment with seeds, you’ll need to acquire them first, either from a plant or another source. The seeds will need a period of cold stratification. Place the seeds in a container with some moist sphagnum moss or vermiculite, seal it, and then place it in the refrigerator for about three months. 

When you’re ready to sow the seeds, gather your materials before you start. You’ll need nursery pots or seed-starting cells, sterile seed-starting mix, and a grow light, if you choose. 

How to Grow

Once you have them started, these are easy roses to grow. Their disease resistance and hardiness make them good enough for the happiest place on Earth, and they should thrive in your garden as well if provided with the right conditions. 

Light

Your roses will bloom best if you plant them in full sun. Ideally, they need six to eight hours of direct sun to exhibit peak performance. The more sun, the more flowers, and vice versa. If your rose doesn’t get enough sun, it won’t flower as well and may grow a bit leggy. 

The afternoon sun can be intense, especially in warm climates. If you experience hot summers, look for a spot to plant your rose that has some shade in the afternoon and sun in the early part of the day. 

Water

When it comes to roses, the watering rule is deeply and infrequently. You want those roots to grow deep, and they will follow the water. If you can get the plant to establish deep roots from the beginning, it will be more drought-tolerant once established. 

When you first plant, water every two to three days, and again, water for longer than you think. Once it’s established, you can water deeply once per week unless you’re getting plenty of rain. 

Soil

Roses like moisture, but won’t tolerate soggy roots, so well-draining soil is a must. They’re also fairly heavy feeders, so starting with nutrient-rich soil gives you a good foundation. 

If you have loamy, well-draining soil with no nutrient deficiency, you can probably plant directly in the ground. Otherwise, amend your soil with plenty of loose organic material like compost or worm castings. Manure works as well. 

Roses need slightly acidic soil to absorb nutrients. If your soil is alkaline, adding organic material will help lower the pH. 

Temperature and Humidity

Floribunda roses are famous for their adaptability. They are more heat and cold-tolerant than many roses, and they are also more tolerant of humidity. While they’re happiest with average humidity, they won’t be as quick to fall prey to fungus as some others. 

Most floribundas can survive zone 4 winters, but with significant protection. If you’re experimenting with this, make sure you mulch heavily and cover the top of your plant for the winter. 

In addition to their cold tolerance, Disneyland is also heat tolerant. Long days in the sun are fine for this cultivar. You can count on these to keep blooming even in temperatures up to 100°F (38°C). 

Fertilizing

Roses love fertilizer. Even if you plant them in rich soil, you’ll want to fertilize them throughout the spring and summer to keep those flowers blooming. In early spring, apply a balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer.

As bloom time approaches, take your balanced formula and fertilize again. This will channel energy into the roots and flowers while continuing to feed the foliage. Fertilize once more in midsummer to give your roses one more bloom before frost arrives.  

If you’re using a water-soluble formula, dig a channel around the base of the plant about a foot from the main stem. Fill it with water and then add fertilizer. Allow the water to absorb into the soil, and then fill the trench with water again. Then fill in and mulch over. 

Cool weather will tell your rose to initiate dormancy, and it’s important to stop fertilizing about this time. For one thing, your rose won’t use all of those nutrients, and they could burn the roots. Fertilizing also prompts the growth of new foliage, and that foliage will be more vulnerable to cold damage. 

Maintenance

As in other facets of care, Disneyland roses don’t require an exceptional amount of maintenance. They will need pruning if you want them to bloom well. The initial pruning should happen in the early spring while your shrub is dormant. 

Before foliage begins to grow, cut all the branches back by about six inches and remove any damaged or dead branches entirely. This will encourage more branching and growth, which means more flowers beginning in late spring. 

If you want the most continuous blooming from your Disneyland rose, deadhead it regularly. Cutting off the spent blooms will encourage more growth. 

In the fall, when you’re certain that dormancy is imminent, you can cut off the spent flowers or hips if you prefer. You can leave them in place, however, to feed the birds. Trim any long branches that will be vulnerable to wind and snow. 

Don’t prune too early in the fall, or your plant will produce new growth that is vulnerable to frost. You don’t have to prune much in the fall; just prep it for winter with mulch and a cover in colder regions. 

Propagation

Disneyland roses aren’t grown on their own roots. While you can grow them from cuttings, it’s not as common as grafting. Cuttings will not produce a plant that is as strong as the parent. 

If you choose to propagate from cuttings, choose a healthy, green stem, and take a cutting of about six to eight inches long. Remove the foliage from the bottom half of your cutting and dip the cut end into rooting hormone. 

Fill a nursery pot with a loose, well-draining potting mix, and insert the bottom inch or so of the cutting into the soil. Water it and keep it moist but not soggy until it roots. You will know your cutting is successful when new growth appears. Once you have substantial new growth you can transplant into the ground. 

Common Problems

Roses are generally prone to fungal diseases, but floribundas are less susceptible than many hybrids. The Disneyland rose is particularly hardy and resistant, which played a role in its selection. They’re not quite as hardy as old garden roses, but they are tougher than most other hybrids. 

Pests

Aphids cause the most trouble for floribunda roses and tend to be among the more prevalent pests in the garden. These and other sap-sucking pests feed on the buds and foliage and drastically affect blooming. 

Attracting beneficial insects to the garden is the best defense against nuisance insects. Ladybugs and lacewings are both voracious predators in their larval stage. In their absence, and in the case of an infestation, neem oil is effective and safer for pollinators. Spray in the late afternoon so that it dries by morning. 

Diseases

Roses tend to fall prey to fungal diseases on a regular basis. Blackspot is the worst of them, but it doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Powdery and downy mildew are also potential fungal issues. Less common, but possible diseases include canker, rust, crown gall, and blight.

The more common fungal diseases are easy enough to treat. Thinning out the center of your rose will help improve airflow and allow sunlight to reach the interior of the shrub. Avoid overhead watering, as this is a major cause of powdery mildew, which interferes with photosynthesis. 

To treat an existing fungal disease, try neem oil to prevent spread to healthy areas of the plant. If possible, remove the affected foliage and then treat what remains. If this doesn’t do the trick, try a copper-based fungicide. All of these affect pollinators, so it’s best to apply them in the early morning before bees are active.

Rose rosette virus is a common illness among roses that is deadly. The signs of the disease include exceptionally red and thorny new growth, distorted and wilting flowers, and stems that take on a “witch’s broom” appearance. The only way to handle RRV is to remove the entire plant and burn it. Prevent it by controlling mites with miticides or by including diverse arrays of flowering plants that attract pirate bugs that feed on mites.