The beginning of June belongs to the roses. This most loved flower in the world is also the cause of the most asked growing questions as gardeners experience frustration with roses that can be disease and insect magnet. But armed with some knowledge, roses can thrive in our climate. In the Pacific Northwest there are roses that will bloom in the shade without thorns (Zephrine Drouhin, a pink climber) roses that will thrive in poor soil (the wild Rosa rugosa) and even roses for teeny tiny places – the true miniature roses.

The biggest mistakes gardeners make when it comes to roses include planting the wrong variety for the area and not improving the soil before planting. Once your rose plant is already in the ground here are the top five rose growing mistakes to avoid:

Do not use an overhead sprinklers on your roses

Roses in our climate are prone to foliage and fungal infections such as black spot and mildew. Wet foliage encourages the spread of these diseases. Watering only the roots preferably with a soaker hose buried under an organic mulch, is the best way to prevent foliage disease from the fungus among us.

Do not crowd your roses

Roses need good air circulation in our climate again because more space and free flowing air will discourage disease. Using a rose plant in the midst of a planting bed filled with low growing annuals or perennials is fine. Trying to grow a rose plant in the midst of overgrown shrubs such as juniper, cedar or other taller evergreens will force the rose plant to compete for sun, water and nutrients. Spoiler on the outcome – the rose will lose this battle with nearby trees and shrubs.

Do not forget to mulch the roots

If you want maximum blooms and disease-free foliage a mulch or frosting of organic matter on top of the roots of a rose plant is like an insurance policy. Roses are thirsty, hungry and disease prone. A compost, moo doo or even a wood chip mulch helps to seal in moisture, prevent weeds that steal nutrients and if applied in the spring will seal in those mildew and black spot spores that have fallen to the ground. Mulch baby mulch for a trifecta of benefits.

Do not forget to fertilize roses

Did I mention roses are gluttonous creatures? Their demand for fertilizer is like their demand for water – keeping the soil moist and fertile makes the rose plant more resistant to disease, insects and better able to pump out the blooms.

Tip: Organic gardeners should consider using alfalfa pellets (often sold as rabbit food at farm stores) mixed with compost along with seaweed extract. Compost is not a fertilizer. Compost improves the soil so that over time it is more fertile, but roses want fertilizer now.

Do not think you can outsmart the deer – they love roses

A tall fence is the only practical solution to growing roses if deer are allowed to roam. Deer repellents will be washed off during our frequent rain and shiny objects or smelly companion plants will not stop deer from eating rose buds, rose foliage and the new growth or roses. Even if you don’t grow roses a deer fence is the only way to keep disease carrying deer ticks out of the garden… but my anti-deer rant and the danger posed from deer ticks had better wait for another column.

Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of “Easy Answers for Great Gardens” and several other books. For answers to gardening questions, visit plantersplace.com and click “As The Expert”. Copyright for this column owned by Marianne Binetti. For more gardening information, she can be reached at her website, www.binettigarden.com.