How to Prune a Lenten Rose

Lenten roses, also known as Christmas roses, offer some of the most beautiful and vibrant flowers you'll find in the late winter or early spring. Though technically not a rose, the vibrant white and pink speckled flowers of lentens offer the same captivating qualities found in the most stunning of roses. Though lenten roses are hardy evergreen plants, the winter season can take a toll on their foliage. With the help of a little pruning, you can restore their beauty for the spring.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Gloves
• Pruning shears

1. Allow your seedling lenten roses two winter terms before pruning them. Giving them two winters before pruning them allows their germination cycles to kick in. The best time to begin is in the late winter or early spring, before the new growth appears.

2. Put on a pair of gloves before pruning. According to Master Gardener of the University of Minnesota, an alkaloid present in lenten roses can trigger a mild skin irritation in some people.

3. Use a pair of pruning shears to remove the dead and sickly stems and from your lenten roses--these useless stems hog up the plant's energy and resources. Cut the undesired stems all the way down to their bottom leaves.

4. Prune the older, more matured, leaves around your lenten rose buds so that when the flowers bloom, they are more visible and more available to pollination.

5. Prune old flowers after they have faded to prevent their seeds from taking root if you don't want your lenten roses to continue expanding.

References

• Royal Horticulture
• Master Gardener @ UMinn: Perennial Plant of the Year for 2005
• White Flower Farm