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Roses are easy...
I love Roses. They are the most Romantic of all flowers and having roses in my garden is the ultimate in romantic beauty.
However, many gardeners think they're finicky, or need a lot of fuss and care. I used to agree, but I have learned that
"roses really are easy".
Here's what worked for me - and what didn't.
I'd like to share tips about choosing, growing, feeding, pruning and other things that make them easy to love.
Here are some links to take you on this fascinating journey.
You can read my story below, or jump to the links you need right now
DON'T PRUNE ROSES till you read this
... oh, there's more when you have time...
THE FAIRY ROSE: One of my favourites:
MOVING ROSES: ... including transplanting
GARDEN DESIGNS...of course, you'll need a design
BUT, if you have time, here's my ROSE story..
Having glorious roses in your garden
feels like having a special treasure..
I was hooked the moment my little child-nose stuffed itself inside a mass of fluffy petals.
I'm all grown up and still hooked.
I want to buy every rose I see.
They're my favourite flowers
and I have a whole garden of them
- but of course it didn't start out all rosy...
I made some huge mistakes...
I'm a reformed rose-killer.
At first, I just wanted a single rosebush, not a whole rose garden. I had no idea how to start, because I wasn't really a gardener.
It was a bleak day in February when a big old tree dropped a huge branch on my fence; then the trunk split down the middle and the poor thing had to come down.
When the tree-man said it was another $250 to take out the stump...
I bravely said, " don't bother...
I'll make a flower garden around it".
It was in the centre of the back yard with a lot of sun, so I plunked a pot of something bright and fluffy on the old stump and put a few nice rocks around it.... and then,
...planted my first Rose Bush.
Its leaves were green, it came in a pot and was covered with buds.It was called a "DREAM ROSE- a Rose that everyone can grow".
Except for me, apparently - because it died.... it did bloom that year, but in a bit of a pouty fit, it refused to come back the next Spring. Perhaps it didn't like where or how I planted it? or the harsh winter (Zone 5b)
Hard lesson to learn.
I obviously knew nothing about planting roses but I had to learn quickly or keep wasting money.
Here, early in that Spring, is my very first Rose Garden.
but, the next year...ooh, la la...
When I placed third in my first competition, I was spurred on to enter again. So I planted more roses and started asking questions.
After a rousing lecture by a nursery owner, I marked off my favourites in his catalogue and drove a few miles to pick them up.
I pictured rows of potted rosebushes, ready to burst into bloom; vying for my attention.
There was only a bare little 'office' where I was asked to fill my choices from a printed list;I tentatively filled it in and waited.
Half an hour later, the receptionist came out of the back room, and in exchange for my $100 (many years ago), silently placed a very large, black plastic garbage bag in my hand.
I was confused. Especially when I went to plant them.
10 brown, bud-less, leaf-less sticks with roots.
I had never seen a bare-root rose (see planting roses).
I dug a hole and placed each one with a large dose of hope and a prayer or two.
...and in the next competition....
I placed first. Well, goodie for me
(Oh, and 8 of those first 10 roses
died over the next winter
because I didn't know
what to do in the fall.)
But here is what the judges saw.
So, if I can grow roses on a stump, you can grow them just about anywhere with sunshine, water, good soil and of course a large dose of faith and a some of the lessons I learned.
DON'T PRUNE ROSES till you read this
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