Summary: Many people follow plant culture instructions without stepping back and asking themselves what is different or the same in their growing environment. Every ever-increasing area has its own “micro-climate” of conditions.
In most cases, people tend to follow the ninth-degree culture directions that they read or hear about that others give. This growing method may work in that particular person’s locality.
Remember, there are different growing conditions for roses in even a radius as close as your next-door neighbor. She may have more humidity in her house or a dryer growing state, and so naturally, she waters her plants more often than you would do so.
Don’t try following other people’s schedules, experiment for yourself. We only try to give you basic reasoning, as do others who help you with your plants. If you follow these basic instructions and experiment with the detailed culture, I’m sure you will find you can also grow plants that are the envy of your friends.
Moving Plants Without Planning
One example, a good friend of mine loves roses. She put in a rose bed. These roses grew quite well for her, and then she decided she wanted her rose bed in a different location.
She didn’t use her head or follow nature’s rules (which, after all, are the best set of rules anyone could follow); she dug up these rose bushes after they had put on an abundance of new growth, moved them, and of course, this set them back and she did not have any choice roses.
When her other friends and neighbors had beautiful roses in bloom, she couldn’t understand why they should have such stunning roses, and she practically none. She decided that she couldn’t grow roses (as she is pretty stubborn, she would not believe others when they told her that she had moved her roses at the wrong time of the year.)
This runs true to so many plants and so many people. Suppose nature wants a plant of yours to rest. Let it rest and don’t try to force it by feeding it. All plants must rest if they are going to succeed indoors or outdoors in the landscape.