Growing Beautiful Roses Easily

Rose is probably my favorite flower and although I'm not a very good gardener, I do have some lovely roses. At my last home, I had a beautiful "Double Delight" given to me by relatives. I'm a bit sorry I didn't move it with me to my new home. I also had a lovely melon colored rose and a white rose with a lovely flower but huge thorns and it wasn't a pretty bush. In fact, I haven't planted another white rose since. And, I just adore the mini roses - they're all over the front of my house in various colors. They're also a favorite of mine to give as gifts for many occasions

It's also the oldest cultivated plant brought to America from Europe. They have a wonderful fragrance, and, of course, are the most popular flower to denote love and romance. You can eat roses too! Just remember to rinse them well and don't serve any that have been sprayed with pesticides or other "outside" sprays. Since they're edible, roses make a terrific flower for decorating and garnishing your food.

Roses need a lot of sun, so be sure they get a good five or six hours of direct sun a day. You'll also need to plant them in good soil. A good PH for roses is 5.5 to 6.5. Don't crowd your plants as they need a bit of air to circulate freely. And, the plants will grow, so space them out as you plant them. For those climbers, remember to make the trellis or fence strong because the roses will get very heavy as they grow every year. A two to three inch layer of mulch will help retain moisture during the hot day.

It's best to water early in the morning and a drip irrigation system works well because it doesn't wet the foliage. It also doesn't work well if you have a dog that likes to chew! I still water my roses in the back yard, by hand, usually with a watering can.

Fertilizing should be done at least twice a year, just before they bloom in the spring and again just prior to the autumn bloom. Some gardeners suggest a third time, about mid summer. I use a simple organic fertilizer that I pick up at Walmart or a nursery and work it into the soil around each rosebush. Afterwards I add another layer of mulch around the base.

There are many different suggestions on "how" and "when" to prune your roses and I doubt I've ever done it "properly" or, at the "right time." I'll usually prune them once in the late winter, but again, I don't think I prune them "down" to what some experts suggest. I merely cut off the smaller, lighter branches along with any dead branches. Then, different bushes get a "trim" when they start to look a bit unruly. (NOTE: Read the description of what the grown rose plant/bush will look like and its care - I planted two beautiful rose bushes in my last yard and they bloomed and cascaded beautifully all spring and summer. And, they were awful to prune - I hated it and it was an ongoing project all spring, summer and fall. They really only looked great in the early spring - after that they needed to be pruned and deadheaded constantly.

Remember to enjoy your roses indoors also - cut them early in the day. I recut the stems on a slant as I place them in vases.