Roses are easy...
I think Roses are the most Romantic of all flowers and having a rose garden (or rose hedge) is the ultimate in romantic beauty. But many gardeners think they're too finicky. I used to think that, but lately, I stick by my experience and "roses really are easy".
Here are some things I did that worked, and some that didn't. In fact, you can actually grow roses in the shade ! Yes, you can...
I have some secrets, tips, and hints about growing, feeding, pruning and overwintering roses. Let me share what I have learned from growing my own, but mostly learning from others.
Let's look at:
DON'T PRUNE ROSES till you read this
... and then...
THE FAIRY ROSE: One of my favourites:
MOVING ROSES: What if you have to move them?
GARDEN DESIGNS...of course, you'll need a design
BUT, if you'd like to know my story...read on...
There's something wonderful about having lots of glorious roses in your garden; it feels a bit like having a royal title or something..look at me...
"...la de da... I have a rose garden."
I was hooked the moment my little child-nose stuffed itself inside a mass of fluffy petals.
And now I'm all grown up and I'm still hooked. I want to buy every rose I see. They're my favourite flowers and I now have a whole garden of them - but it wasn't all rosy... I made some huge mistakes...
I was really only thinking about a single rosebush, not a whole rose garden. I had no idea how to start, especially because I wasn't really a gardener.
It started on a bleak day in February with a big old tree dropping a huge branch on the fence and a the trunk split down the middle so 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. I put a pot of something bright and fluffy on the old stump with a few nice rocks around it.... and then,
...plunked in 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.... although it did bloom that year, but, in a rather pouty fit, it refused to come back the next Spring. Perhaps it didn't like where (or more likely how) I planted it? or the harsh winter (Zone 5)
I've learned a lot since and want to share...
I didn't know much about planting roses. Actually I didn't know much about planting anything - but I decided to learn.
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. I decided to plant more roses and sought out the experts.
I drove a few miles to a rose grower where I had imagined rows of potted rosebushes, ready to burst into bud, just begging me to choose.
I was surprised when the 'office' handed me a printed list, which I tentatively filled in - then waited.
Half an hour later, the receptionist came out of the back room, and in exchange for my $100, she 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 in the link below).
I placed each in a hole, with a large dose of hope and a prayer or two....and in the next competition....
I placed first.
(Oh, and out of those first 10 roses? I lost 8 over the next winter because I didn't know what to do with them in the fall.)
But here is how how it looked on judging day.
The bottom line is, 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 smattering of hope.
DON'T PRUNE ROSES till you read this