News
As I've mentioned before, I didn't start growing roses until just a few years ago—it's a strictly 21st century interest for me. I jumped into the deep end of rose education, and managed not to drown before I began to get the hang of things.
I began to get a grasp on roses in the rose garden at the Botanical Gardens. There are about 60-70 roses in those beds, of several kinds, and as I've spent years with those roses, I've learned so much —there's nothing like hands-on training!
Have you noticed how often roses are planted in “rose gardens” that are patches of garden separate from other parts of the garden? Like the rose beds at the Botanical Garden, roses tend to get planted in their own beds, either in blocks of the same color, or, most frequently, in mixed colors. There's a kind of a color plan down at the Botanical Garden rose beds, but it isn't immediately apparent. There have been many changes, and roses have a habit of doing things you didn't expect, so the roses are a polyglot of color, size, and texture.
Now that I know enough to have a valid opinion on such things, I'll tell you what drives me crazy about the rose beds down at the Botanical Gardens. There are many gorgeous roses in those beds, but much of their beauty is lost in the forest of roses planted there. Not that they aren't gorgeous when they're in bloom, but the specific splendor of the individual roses is lost in the crush, and the colors, while riotous, are also chaotic. More often they compete rather than complement, so no one stands out. But that's just me.
Besides overcrowding (the beds would be sensational if 30 percent of the roses were removed), the single biggest factor in the confusion of color and impact is that you never really know what size a rose bush is going to be until you plant it. At planting, the baby roses looked lonely in those big empty beds, so they were overplanted. Seven years later, some of the roses are monsters, and others are surprisingly small. Lots of the smaller roses ended up swamped by larger roses, and too much shade being cast by larger roses has kept some roses shorter than they should have been.
Tender roses are planted near hardy roses—guess which ones gets all the goodies like sun, nutrients, water, etc.? Roses that are disease resistant are planted next to roses that are vulnerable—guess who wins that contest! Pastel roses draw both aphids and thrips, and then they munch on the bright colors, too—it's a veritable salad bar for bugs! Weeding is a HUGE task. There are just too many roses trying to out-do each other, and it is very difficult to get around—there are masses of entangled roses in some parts of the garden. Sigh. I love roses, but you need full-body-armor to work in those beds—you ARE going to bleed!
The Rose Society (GVRS) is responsible for the care and training of those rose beds, and we use them as a teaching tool. Every spring, we hold pruning demonstrations for both our members and for the public in those rose beds—when all is said and done, it's our job to get all those roses pruned in a timely and appropriate fashion. Given the sizes of many of the bushes, I have a feeling we'll be doing some serious hard-pruning this year, so if you want to practice with us, stay tuned—we'll be doing that sometime around the middle of April.
Are you planning to order bare-root roses this year? If you're interested in some of the more popular, easily available roses, such as ‘Double Delight', ‘Peace', ‘Knockout', ‘Orange Marmalade', ‘Gemini', ‘Mr. Lincoln' etc., save those purchases for potted roses from your local nurseries—keep it local, right? If you are interested in roses that are not typically available from local sources, that's the time to look into bare-root roses from the zillions of rose retailers out there. I don't have particular favorite rose breeder or company—I sell Jackson & Perkins and Weeks roses at work, and Monrovia and Star roses are sold locally—all have their strengths and weaknesses. If you stick to #1 grade roses, you'll probably receive a good product—after that, it's on you, not the breeder.
When you're planting bare-root roses, you're doing the work that the nursery has done for you when you buy a potted rose, except that you're doing it in the ground. Bare-root planting saves you money and increases your choices, but it's a more labor intensive than planting potted roses.
Bare-root planting isn't hard—it's more demanding because you have to build up a cone in the center of the hole so that your can set the plant and spread the roots out evenly in the hole. The bare-root plants have to be kept in fresh water, changed daily, until they're actually planted, and you'll probably have to do a little root-trimming before you plant. It isn't rocket science, but it does require planning.
You can find lots of excellent information about rose selection and planting from many, many, many rose-related websites, but the American Rose Society at www.ars.org is a good place to start. Someday, if we ever get a website designer, (she begged, pleadingly), I hope to be able to recommend the local GVRS website—but not now.
The sooner you order your roses, the better, and don't accept delivery any later than the end of March, because they need to be planted no later than the beginning of April. You may have to fight for your date (everyone thinks we're Denver!), but don't order from anyone who won't agree to your dates. They'll tell you it voids the guarantee—stand your ground!
--------------------------
Judith is a master gardener, an American Rose Society-certified consulting rosarian, and a member of the Grand Valley Rose Society. She works at Mt. Garfield Greenhouse during the growing season. She will answer your questions at.
I began to get a grasp on roses in the rose garden at the Botanical Gardens. There are about 60-70 roses in those beds, of several kinds, and as I've spent years with those roses, I've learned so much —there's nothing like hands-on training!
Have you noticed how often roses are planted in “rose gardens” that are patches of garden separate from other parts of the garden? Like the rose beds at the Botanical Garden, roses tend to get planted in their own beds, either in blocks of the same color, or, most frequently, in mixed colors. There's a kind of a color plan down at the Botanical Garden rose beds, but it isn't immediately apparent. There have been many changes, and roses have a habit of doing things you didn't expect, so the roses are a polyglot of color, size, and texture.
Now that I know enough to have a valid opinion on such things, I'll tell you what drives me crazy about the rose beds down at the Botanical Gardens. There are many gorgeous roses in those beds, but much of their beauty is lost in the forest of roses planted there. Not that they aren't gorgeous when they're in bloom, but the specific splendor of the individual roses is lost in the crush, and the colors, while riotous, are also chaotic. More often they compete rather than complement, so no one stands out. But that's just me.
Besides overcrowding (the beds would be sensational if 30 percent of the roses were removed), the single biggest factor in the confusion of color and impact is that you never really know what size a rose bush is going to be until you plant it. At planting, the baby roses looked lonely in those big empty beds, so they were overplanted. Seven years later, some of the roses are monsters, and others are surprisingly small. Lots of the smaller roses ended up swamped by larger roses, and too much shade being cast by larger roses has kept some roses shorter than they should have been.
Tender roses are planted near hardy roses—guess which ones gets all the goodies like sun, nutrients, water, etc.? Roses that are disease resistant are planted next to roses that are vulnerable—guess who wins that contest! Pastel roses draw both aphids and thrips, and then they munch on the bright colors, too—it's a veritable salad bar for bugs! Weeding is a HUGE task. There are just too many roses trying to out-do each other, and it is very difficult to get around—there are masses of entangled roses in some parts of the garden. Sigh. I love roses, but you need full-body-armor to work in those beds—you ARE going to bleed!
The Rose Society (GVRS) is responsible for the care and training of those rose beds, and we use them as a teaching tool. Every spring, we hold pruning demonstrations for both our members and for the public in those rose beds—when all is said and done, it's our job to get all those roses pruned in a timely and appropriate fashion. Given the sizes of many of the bushes, I have a feeling we'll be doing some serious hard-pruning this year, so if you want to practice with us, stay tuned—we'll be doing that sometime around the middle of April.
Are you planning to order bare-root roses this year? If you're interested in some of the more popular, easily available roses, such as ‘Double Delight', ‘Peace', ‘Knockout', ‘Orange Marmalade', ‘Gemini', ‘Mr. Lincoln' etc., save those purchases for potted roses from your local nurseries—keep it local, right? If you are interested in roses that are not typically available from local sources, that's the time to look into bare-root roses from the zillions of rose retailers out there. I don't have particular favorite rose breeder or company—I sell Jackson & Perkins and Weeks roses at work, and Monrovia and Star roses are sold locally—all have their strengths and weaknesses. If you stick to #1 grade roses, you'll probably receive a good product—after that, it's on you, not the breeder.
When you're planting bare-root roses, you're doing the work that the nursery has done for you when you buy a potted rose, except that you're doing it in the ground. Bare-root planting saves you money and increases your choices, but it's a more labor intensive than planting potted roses.
Bare-root planting isn't hard—it's more demanding because you have to build up a cone in the center of the hole so that your can set the plant and spread the roots out evenly in the hole. The bare-root plants have to be kept in fresh water, changed daily, until they're actually planted, and you'll probably have to do a little root-trimming before you plant. It isn't rocket science, but it does require planning.
You can find lots of excellent information about rose selection and planting from many, many, many rose-related websites, but the American Rose Society at www.ars.org is a good place to start. Someday, if we ever get a website designer, (she begged, pleadingly), I hope to be able to recommend the local GVRS website—but not now.
The sooner you order your roses, the better, and don't accept delivery any later than the end of March, because they need to be planted no later than the beginning of April. You may have to fight for your date (everyone thinks we're Denver!), but don't order from anyone who won't agree to your dates. They'll tell you it voids the guarantee—stand your ground!
--------------------------
Judith is a master gardener, an American Rose Society-certified consulting rosarian, and a member of the Grand Valley Rose Society. She works at Mt. Garfield Greenhouse during the growing season. She will answer your questions at.
