Lime may supply the key to success for some of the plants in your garden. My first experience with the magic which can be performed by the addition of lime to the soil came when I transformed a bed of sweet sultans from sickly plants to vigorous specimens with blossoms of exhibition quality. In common … Read more
Every year, from spring until fall, our garden is visited by rose lovers from all parts of the country. They come singly, and they come in groups, small groups, and large groups. Some stay only a few minutes, some stay for hours, and some stay for days. And all of them, I think, ask questions. … Read more
“Of all flowers, me thinks a rose is best,” said Emilia in Two Noble Kinsmen. This has been man’s sentiment since he first began to garden. The rose has a variety of colors, scents, forms, and landscape value for any taste. No other plant gives more pleasure. Yet most gardeners know only modern hybrid teas, … Read more
The history of roses begins far in the past. Dried specimens have been found in Egyptian tombs. Roses are mentioned in the oldest known writings. Fossilized remnants dug in Oregon prove that a rose bloomed 50 million years ago. Native rose species grow throughout the United States and in many foreign countries. What comes to … Read more
The quality and the quantity of the roses you will enjoy next June are determined largely by what you do with your shrub rose bushes during the next few weeks. If drought or neglect has left your bushes in poor condition, your effort to bring them back to normal should begin now. Even bushes in … Read more
There’s always space in the garden for a growing few additional roses. Sometimes, we wish only to make replacements, yet more often, we want to add choice new varieties. Setting Out Roses In The Spring Although many prefer setting out roses in the spring, more and more rosarians are advocating fall planting. There are many … Read more
The knotty “to be or not to be” question of rose growers, whether to plant rose in the fall or in the spring, is still being debated. Yet except in the far north, where spring planting of roses is decidedly preferable, the results seem to be about the same—at least this is so in my … Read more
Winter is a good time to think about roses, for we usually order some early in spring, and the earlier, the better, providing the ground is suitable. So let’s think a little about some kinds of rose we can enjoy. There are many we like, have tried and found they only stayed with us for … Read more
No garden is complete without roses. I have 80 – hybrid tea roses, some climbers, and some Polyanthus roses, and I try to add a few new ones each year to my collection. Cutting A Slip When cutting a slip, I pick a woody one or cut a piece of mallet shape off the old … Read more
Many woody plants can be rooted easily. Although this is usually left to professionals, almost any home gardener can do it successfully. If you have any woody plants in your garden, you probably have some which began their lives as summer-wood slips or cuttings. Proper Timing For Success Rooting Proper timing is probably the most … Read more