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How to Grow Fabulous Roses
Most of the fun of any kind of gardening is to figure out what plants need and to provide it without a lot of fuss. And it's no secret that roses need lots of sun and water and a little fertilizer once in awhile. You can cope with a few bugs here and there, but your roses really do need a spray of an organic or chemical fungicide every few weeks. Not hard. However, what rose producers have never told you before is how a rose variety will perform in your climate. The United States is a big place, with many types of regional climates. And most roses perform better in some climates than others. Your selection of rose varieties really determines your success or failure with roses. One of the few rose producers that provides specific information on how their roses perform in different climates, Weeks Roses, makes it a breeze for budding rose gardeners to choose plants that will be easy to grow in their very own yards. Hybrid tea roses, for example, are more susceptible to the raves of winter. Most varieties will over winter in cold climates, but only with lots of winter protection. For rosarians who love the wonderful, long-stemmed hybrid teas, it's worth the extra effort it takes to grow them where it's cold. But more casual rose growers may find the own-root bush roses easier to cope with. Because they grow on their own roots, rather than having been budded (grafted) onto a rootstock, own-root roses will continue to thrive, year after year, even in the coldest climates - and with little or not winter protection. Some roses just hate the cold, no matter how hard
a gardener tries. The wonderful greenish-yellow hybrid tea, St.
Patrick, is an annual in the North, but it loves humid heat and
will astound a southern gardener with huge, perfect flowers on long,
sturdy stems. Roses with many petals perform better where summers are dry, and many of the heritage roses need a cool period to set buds. In northern climates, many of the hardy shrubs delight rose gardeners. The yellow, red, pink and orange shrub, Flutterbye, rewards northern gardeners with tons of bloom all season long. But the truly fabulous white climber, Sally Holmes, which grows to 15 feet in California, needs some protection in New England, where it grows to about 5 feet. No matter where you live, you can grow fabulous roses. You just have to know which varieties to choose. Check out the Weeks Roses website at www.weeksroses.com to determine which varieties will grow best in your neck of the woods. Or, purchase their 75-page full-color catalog that describes hundreds of the most popular rose varieties by calling (800) 841-6630. It costs just $7.95. Weeks Roses are available at local nurseries and garden centers nationwide.
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Maybe
you're one of those gardeners who has tried to grow roses and failed
miserably. Or maybe you think roses are so hard to grow, you're
not even going to try. Well, take heart! Roses are easier to grow
than ever before.
