If you enjoy roses, you can use them functionally as well as
decoratively around your grounds — as creepers, shrubs, vines,
climbers, hedges or just as beds of pure color. Rose originators
are enthusiastic and tireless, and every year new favorites
appear. Most recently the headliners were the bright floribunda
rose, Jiminy Cricket; the soft, pure-pink hybrid tea rose, Queen
Elizabeth; the bright" yellow peace rose. There are over 5,000
varieties of roses in the United States, and once you start
growing your own you are apt to change your preferences from
season to season.
In selecting roses, it is important to get healthy plants. Stems
should be green and un-shriveled, roots moist and partly fibrous.
The most expensive rose is not always the best rose; it may be
only a newcomer, much discussed and, therefore, a favorite.
In general, there are two types of roses: bush roses (similar to
shrubs) and climbers (producing canes that require some sort of
support). In the bush classification, the predominant type is the
hybrid tea; it accounts for over 60% of all roses grown in
America.
The other major bush types are the polyanthas (roses in large
clusters), the fioribundas (large-flowered polyanthas), and the
hybrid perpetuals (vigorous growers with a great crop in June and
continuous blooming throughout the summer). The climbers include
ramblers, whose long pliant canes have large clusters of small
roses that can be used for covering walls, fences and banks. The
climbers also are pillar roses, adapted to growing near buildings
and on posts and the climbing hybrid tree.
For planting roses a good garden loam with organic matter is
important. It must contain peat moss, leaf mold, compost, rotted
or commercial manure, and the bed should be prepared as far ahead
of planting as is feasible in order to allow for settling of the
soil.
About the Author
Paul Curran is CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and
webmaster at Trees-and-Bushes.com, providing access to their
nursery supplier of a range of quality plants, trees, bushes,
shrubs, seeds and garden products.Visit
their roses section to find a great selection of rose bushes for
your garden