How to Grow and Care for Rockapulco Rose
Learn the essential care for Rockapulco Rose. This disease-resistant Double Impatiens provides lush, rose-like flowers in shade gardens without deadheading.
Rockapulco Rose is a popular flowering plant known for its vibrant, double blooms that bring color to shaded areas and containers. Despite its name, it is not a true rose but a type of Double Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana). Its care needs differ significantly from traditional roses. Grown as an annual, it produces a profusion of flowers from spring until the first frost.
Understanding Rockapulco Rose
“Rockapulco” is a registered trademark from Proven Winners for a series of Impatiens walleriana. Plants in this series have strong growth, a naturally mounded shape making them excellent “filler” plants in containers, and increased resistance to Impatiens Downy Mildew. This disease resistance makes it a low-maintenance choice compared to other impatiens varieties.
The series offers many colors, including Wisteria, Orange, Red, and White. The ‘Rose’ variety features bright, rose-colored double flowers. These plants grow 10 to 20 inches tall and spread 12 to 24 inches wide, forming a dense mound of dark green foliage.
Planting and Care Guide
This plant thrives in part to full shade, meaning it should receive four hours or less of direct sunlight daily, as too much sun can scorch the leaves. Its preference for shade makes it an excellent choice for brightening dim garden corners, planting under taller landscape features, or for use in covered porch containers.
Rockapulco Rose performs best in well-draining soil rich in organic matter and cannot tolerate standing water, which causes root issues. The soil should not be allowed to dry out completely; water when the top inch feels dry. Plants in containers and hanging baskets require more frequent watering than those in the ground.
To support continuous blooming until frost, apply a balanced, water-soluble plant food weekly. For plants in garden beds, incorporating compost into the soil at planting also provides a steady supply of nutrients.
Maintenance for Abundant Blooms
A significant advantage of the Rockapulco series is that it is “self-cleaning,” meaning spent flowers drop off on their own. This trait eliminates the need for deadheading (manually removing old blooms), making it a low-maintenance plant that continues to produce flowers.
While not required, the plant can be pruned at any time to maintain a desired shape. If stems become too tall or leggy later in the season, cutting them back will promote branching for a more compact, fuller plant with more flowers.
For an especially bushy plant, you can “pinch back” the stems early in the season by snapping off the top portion of each main stem with your fingers. This encourages the plant to send out new side shoots, leading to a denser, more mounded shape with more blooms.