6 Summer Pruning Tips For More Rose Blossoms and Healthier Bushes

summer pruning roses

Believe it or not, caring for garden roses needs “pruning” all summer. You probably have accomplished many of these described tasks but not called them “pruning.” If the essential jobs are done correctly, you’ll enjoy more rose blossoms and have healthier and larger rose bushes. Read over these descriptive summer jobs and follow suggestions where … Read more

Should You Buy Budded Roses? What Are Your Options?

budded roses flower

I buy budded roses for the same reason you do, it is the only kind offered for sale by the nurseries. That is not to say l do it because I want to. On the contrary, I would prefer to buy a healthy plant grown on its roots. But since they are not available and … Read more

Planting a Rose in Arizona or Kentucky Starts With Selection

Planting Rose Arizona Kentucky

The first step in planting a rose garden in Arizona, Kentucky, or anywhere else is carefully selecting the plants. After deciding on the varieties, you’re going to grow (and how much money you can spend), the next question is, “What kind of rose plants are best to buy?” In checking the prices, you will find … Read more

Rose Gall: Pest Solutions For Rough, Knobby, Tuberlike Growths

Rose Gall

The disease of roses “crown gall” has often been cited as one of the most insistent rose diseases. It appears as rough, knobby, tuberlike growths either above or below ground parts of the plant. In certain locations, it may develop on canes and roots. Galls may grow 2″ or 3″ inches in diameter, occasionally larger. … Read more

Roses Floribundas Designed for the Landscape

Blooming Floribundas

What my busy family likes most about floribundas is that they are practically as easy to grow and to maintain, in our southern Michigan landscape as common hardy shrubs.  Actually, floribundas are hardy shrubs in every sense of the word. And who could ask more of a plant that blooms all season, beginning the first … Read more

Want Some Bad Plant Care Advice? Follow Cultural Directions Exactly

red flowers

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 … Read more

Are You Ready To Control Black Spot in the Rose Garden?

Black Spots on Roses

Somewhere in a rose-growing country, the season will prove to be one of the worst for blackspot in recent years. This can often be attributed to a very early and warm spring that produces the early growth of roses and blackspots. It greatly emphasizes the importance of spraying early. Gardeners who began their spray programs … Read more

Growing Roses In Cold Climates: How To Tips On Cold Climate Rose Care

Roses in Cold Climate

Question: We live in the northeast and could use some tips on caring for our roses in this colder climate. Maria, Worcester Massachusetts Answer: Most home gardeners living in the latitude of northern Vermont do not expect to grow hybrid teas 5′ to 6′ feet tall. In fact, the idea is abroad that in climates … Read more

Sweetbriar Rose: A Rose Of Ancient Lineage And World Traveler

Blooming Nicholas Sweetbriar Rose

The Nicholas Sweetbriar Rose is no “Johnny come lately,” but a rose of ancient lineage, a consort of king and commoner, of lords and ladies, and a native of Europe that has spread across the world. This is the Eglantine rose of Shakespeare and Elizabeth I, given the scientific name Rosa eglanieria by Linnaeus. It … Read more