The Beautiful fragrance of Roses...
I asked my Dad about the rose bush that grew wildly outside our bathroom window when I was a child. It was beautifully filled with pink blooms that smelled heavenly. I loved soaking in a bubble bath with the window open so the breeze could fill the room with my favorite fragrance, rose. Funny enough, he said there was a smelly old septic tank there and it was always damp and ugly so he planted a rose bush hoping it would cover the muddy area. I had no idea that one of my favorite memories of my childhood started from a nasty old septic tank! Those roses were beautiful! Today my home is filled with fresh cut roses from my rose garden and I have one huge bush just like the one my Dad planted, every time I smell the fragrance it takes me back to that wonderful memory.
Four Steps For Beautiful Roses
The Right Rose
Choose the right roses to grow. Do you want a tree, bush, climbing or certain kind of rose? Then choose the correct climate and region rose that will grow in your area.
Preparation
Roses have specific needs. They need full sun light at least six hours a day, the proper soil mix, plenty of water and a good fertilizer.
Location
Choose a location where the sun is plenty in the morning to dry the dew from the leaves and will shine for six hours. (Filtered shade after 2pm maximizes rose color and increases the life of your roses, especially in hot dry areas) Not too much shade and where they have the freedom to grow, remember they have thorns!
Loving Care
Keep the ground around your roses damp but not soggy. Roses like water in the morning hours it reduces diseases. Never water in the afternoon or evening this promotes diseases.
Feed your roses a high-phosphorus balanced fertilizer at least twice a year (early Spring and mid-summer) for extra flowering, feed after a flush of flowers, usually 6 to 8 weeks from Spring until mid-Summer.
Use a plant food for the first and last feedings of the year containing a systemic insecticide, such as "Ortho Systemic Rose & Flower Care" or "Spectracide Rose & Flower Care" to eliminate aphids. In extra cold climates feed in early Autumn with a high-potassium formula to help increase stamina and help them through the cold weather.
Take cuttings in the morning when its cool, cut at an angle from a stem with pruning sheers. This is where the the new rose will come in so cut it where you want that rose to grow.
Prune in late winter or early spring after the danger of frost has past; cut back the plants to about a third of the height they attained during the previous season.
In mid-summer, if the plants grow too big, it's good to cut them back a little to shape the plants and keep them in bounds for the fall flush of flowers. Just don't over-do it -- the plants still need lots of leaves to keep up their energy.
Where freezing weather threatens rose plants, it is wise to cover them with a protective mulch. Oak leaves often give the best results; but where these are not readily available, other organic mulches will help a great deal. The idea is to shield the plants from wind and from alternate thawing and freezing. When you are considering what to use, remember to plan for its removal later: some materials may be difficult to remove.
Cut flowering stems either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Cut above the lowest 5-leaflet leaf (usually 3-5 inches above the base of the stem). Immerse stem in a tall container of warm water, and refrigerate at least one hour. Remove the flowers from the refrigerator and arrange them in a vase. Freshen the water every day.
I prefer Container grown roses so I can see what they look like when I buy them. You can plant them any time of the year and they are already off to a good start. Before planting, mix one-fourth cup of rose food with the soil in the hole. Gently loosen the dirt around the roots and be careful not to break the root ball. Water well and feed again in six weeks. Add about 4 inches of organic mulch, like wood shavings or compost.
Hybrid tea roses
These are tall, long-stemmed roses ideal for cutting. They are usually the kind you send from the florist. In the garden, they are often featured as single specimens.
Floribundas
Developed during the last century, these roses are shorter and bloom more freely, setting of blossoms rather than a single bloom on a stem. Shrub or landscape roses. These can be tall or kept trimmed. They can be treated like a hedge and bloom from spring through fall. Their foliage fills in. They are spaced 18 inches apart in cool climates; 24 to 36 inches apart in warmer climates. These roses have changed the way many people view roses. Landscape roses, especially when compared with traditional varieties, are impressive for many reasons: their natural disease-resistance, their willingness to grow in a variety of climates with a minimum of attention from the gardener, their compact growth habit (very little pruning required), not to mention the great beauty of their flowers, which are borne consistently over a very long season.
Tree roses
These elegant roses grow in a cluster at the top of a stake. Miniatures grow 18 inches high; patio varieties 24 inches; and full tree roses 36 inches high. Tall ones can frame a doorway or line a walk. Smaller varieties can be grown in containers on the patio or porch.
Patio roses
These grow two to four feet tall, bloom all season, and are well suited to growing in containers in small spaces. Sometimes they are planted in hedges as foundation covers. The foliage tends to be dense.
Climbers
Climbing roses can form dramatic cascades grown over an arched trellis or trained over a fence, pillar, or post. They are sometimes used to create a privacy wall.
Rose Links
http://www.rosecare.com
http://www.rosemagazine.com/
http://www.ars.org/About_Roses/rose_care_articles.html
http://www.sunset.com/sunset/garden/article/0,20633,1135739,00.html
http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/Rose_bushes_Collections.aspx
