Planting & Caring For Rose Bushes in Containers...

A rose by any other name, may not smell as sweet...

I love the Hybrid tea for their long stem beauty, and fantastic fragrance. The bush gives off wonderful long stem cutting flowers. One bloom will give wonderful scent to any given room. I plant Hybrid teas in large containers in areas such as my patio, deck. I want them close, to enjoy the scent...

The lavender Hybrid rose here in this photo is one of my favorite. The name of the rose is "The Sterling Silver." It has not only a great fragrance, but the color is beautiful. Hybrid roses come in a wide variety of color's, it won't be hard to find one you will fall in love with.

What is the first thing people do when handed a rose bloom? They smell it! To some gardeners fragrance in roses is very important. I have a wonderful garden, and have visited many rose gardens and nurseries in my travel's. Europe and America love our roses. I have found only of a few of what I would term extremely fragrant rose s. The Hybrid Tea roses. Hardy to zones 5-10.

The Hybrid Tea rose as a rule will have a wonderful soft to strong rose perfume scent... If you have a couple of bushes near your bedroom window, you will as a rule smell the soft scent as you fall a sleep at night.

The Memorial Day Rose

Memorial Day is the front runner for fragrance. Rose Experts would tell you "one bloom can perfumes almost an entire room." Memorial Day blooms grow as a rule to about 5 inch, are very clear pink with a lavender glow about them.

Tip: As the blooms are spent collect the petals and store them in a basket in a dry place, as the collection grows you will be blessed with a wonderful dry potpourri, that will give you the actual soft scent of the rose as you go into winter months ... mix the different colored petals for a wonderful color blended potpourri.

The carpet rose is wonderful placed in containers where you want lots of showy color, with a mass of bush and flowing ground cover. I plant then in large containers placed to the back of gardens, to flow on down and join the other flowers. They give great height to a garden, bringing the eye up from ground level. Also great placed in the ground to crawl and mingle with the other flowers.

Carpet Roses bushes are the number one Rose bushes used for Ground Covering. I love the Carpey rose in a large container, just flowing over - doing its thing...

In all my years of rose growing have I seen such an explosion of acceptance for a rose bush as I saw with the introduction to the Carpet Rose Bush....

The Carpet rose was introduced in 1995, the Carpet rose came about with over 30 years of breeding by German grower Noack Rosen. Rosen wanted to create a perfect rose that would be easy to care, plus grow well, and be disease resistant, pest resistant and give off hardy long lasting blooms. He was successful in achieving just such a rose bush. The carpet rose bush has all the qualities Rosen set out to achieve. beautiful, three foot tall package that grows with almost no care and blooms continuously throughout the summer.

Carpet rose bushes have grown to take over 10% of the annual rose market. Making it the single most popular rose variety in history.

The Carpet rose is a perfect choice if you are looking for a rose bush with low maintenance.
The carpet rose grows best in a sunny location. The bush need no special care or feeding, as in most roses care the Carpet rose loves water, so will require frequent watering. They're hardy in North American zones 5-10.

Each year it seems there is a new color introduced. New varieties have been released almost every year to the public since their conception. A few of my favorite colors - Red, coral, white, yellow, pink, and appleblossom. Many times referred to as the "wandering rose or rambling rose" they picked up these nicknames due to the ability to wander, and caprpet all they come in touch with with beautiful clusters of color. They are wonderful ground cover and easy to care for.

Planting: The Carpet rose also due well planted in large containers, such as whiskey barrels. They will flow beautifully over the sides, and can be pruned to keep them contained. Flower Carpet roses are also perfect for flower beds, landscapes and hanging baskets.

Feeding The Carpet Rose : Carpet roses like to be fed, as

Climbing Roses

Climbing roses are a favorite of mine... They add so much beauty in so many garden settings. Create some effects by training a climber on a wall or trellis, or over an archway to create a blooming entry way to your garden. Fences will provide area for the Climbing rose to ramble, and spread with great ease. Add pillars and Climbing roses and you will add a formality to you garden.

I add archways with Climbing roses at each side in very large containers, this creates what would appear to be an entrance to a given garden. A well placed bird bath or garden ornament... Makes the setting even more special.

The Climbing rose bush comes in a wide variety of colors. They are very easy to maintain, and will provide all season color.
To be maintained as the Carpet rose bush.

Tip: If you are planting your Climbing rose bush in a container, make sure the container is very large, and keep the bush pruned well each season. They do ramble, and if in a pot, the a bush can get out of hand. So prune the bush to keep it pot manageable.

If you have ordered bushes from a mail order house, the actual supplier will take the guesswork out of it for you, and ship at the proper planting time for your area.

If you are going to be planting roses in a container, they can be planted any time of year, if you will be starting them in the house at a sunny window. If you are planting outside, It is best to plant in the spring and fall so the roots have a chance to make a home for themselves before they are stressed by extreme cold or heat.

Bare-root roses that you purchase from a nusery are in the dormant state. So planting is different. Planting time for this type of rose is based on the severity of the individual winter climate in your area.

If temperatures in your area do not fall below 10 degrees F, you can plant whenever the bare-root roses are available.

If the minimum winter temperature falls between 10 degrees and -10 degrees, you should plant only in the early spring or late fall. If the coldest winter temperature in your area is below -10 degrees, plant only in the early spring.

If you fall in this group, be sure to wait until the possibility of spring freezes has passed. New transplants can succumb to severe drops in temperature.

Regardless of when you plant, choose a day that's not windy or very hot.

Size Of Container: It is important that rose bushes, and small shrub roses be placed in containers no less than 15 inches in diameter. They will do well there for two years, and then will need transplanting into larger pots. You can save yourself the trouble of transplanting, by using a larger pot, right off. Roses in containers deplete the soil of its nutrients rapidly, than if they were bedded in the ground. So keep in mind the bush can out grow its home, and need transplanting

Lets Prepare The Soil: To prepare the container for the rose to be planted, place a layer about one inch deep of gravel or other medium sized rocks in the bottom of the container. This layer will serves as drainage, and prevents the soil from becoming too compressed at the bottom of the pot. Time to prepare the soil, mix one-third good quality commercial potting soil, one-third hearty garden compost (if you have do not have compost available substitute it with more potting soil) and one-third composted mushroom or steer manure. You may also at this time add an extra cup of perlite to the mix, this will enhance soil drainage. It is beneficial to the rose to add one cup of bonemeal to the soil. I also suggest adding 1 cup of fishmeal, and a cup bloodmeal. This soil combination, will assure you roses that will produce many hearty blooms over the growing season.

Tip: Rose bushes love rich, loose soil: Roses require a lot of food and nutrients. When planting roses, make sure to mix in generous portions of compost and manure into the native garden soil. If compost is not available, add store bought peat moss mixed with cow manure.

Planting The Rose Bush:
Fill the container about two-thirds full with the soil mix mound the soil in the center (this helps root sit more easily on the soil, and roots to grab into soil with ease). Place the rose bush, with its roots well spread out in the soil, over the slightly mounded soil. Then fill in around the rose with the remaining earth. Press down gently as you add soil, gently but firmly around the protruding canes. The soil edge surface should be level with the bud union (where the rose is grafted onto the rootstock). If the rose seems too deep in the potting container, remove it, and repeat the planting procedure. The soil will compress with time, and the entire contents will sink into the container. For this reason, make sure to fill the container right to the top.

Watering Your Rose Bush Water is so important to the growing rose.... After you have planted your rose bush, saturate it with room temperature water. (I keep a warming barrel for water to warm by natures sun.) Containers tend to dry out more quickly than soil in the ground. This is one reason it is so important to water container roses often. Especially during long periods of drought or days of prolonged heat. I suggest a spot check every two days in the summer months. Dryness will determine whether a rose needs to be watered. A spot check is done by scratching the soil, about an inch down. If it is totally dry-the rose is in need watering.

I also recommend you water at the base of the rose bush, and avoid getting the leaves wet if possible. Hot humid weather is a breeding ground for rose diseases. Adding water to the leaves during humid weather will help promote disease growth. In addition, if you have applied insecticide or fungicides, you are washing it all away.

For a good healthy roses bush, place the rose in an area where it will benefit from moving air. Spacing container's about two feet apart is the rule of thumb. Good air flow can help in preventing incidence of fungus-related rose diseases. Also keep in mind, roses love sun... If possible they should have a full day of sun, or at least seven hours. Finally, in spring offer roses in containers a tablespoon of Epsom salts. Just sprinkled the salts around the base of the plant. This will provides your rose bush with the necessary magnesium it needs for healthy summer foliage. Also a kick-start of a fish emulsion feed in spring to get them off to a healthy start. Last but not least... If you live in an area where winters are cold, and harsh, It is advisable to move the container into a winter sheltered site or temporarily indoors.

Tip: Plenty of sunshine is the first and foremost ingredient to consider when planning your rose bush, keep in mind that roses will thrive in full sun. If a full days sun light is not available, roses will tolerate partial shade.But naturally, the bush will not give as many flowers, and the blooms may be smaller. I have planted rose bushes in partial shade, and with a bit more food, they grow quite well.

Provide plenty Plant Food: Roses consume significant amounts of nutrients. What you add to your soil at planting time will kick start the plants growth.

But they will need a good feeding regime, to flourish. Some gardeners have their own secrets to feeding their roses, such as burying the remains of fish, or other animals byproducts, under their rose bush, and swear by their good results.

These stories bare some truth true. Use caution when you use fish or other animal byproducts...while your roses will respond favorably, a fish under your plant as a rule will attract neighborhood cats, and other animal's to also feed from your garden. Digging at the base of the rose bush, and cause root damage to the bush.

So-what to feed your rose bush?

When reading bags of fertilizer, note the middle number on the bag. The middle number in common fertilizer is Phosphorus. Phosphorus is the chemical element in the plant world that promotes good growth, and healthy flower blooming.

When growing flowers, a fertilizer heavy in phosphorus will help promote those big, beautiful blooms. Most garden stores carry several varieties of fertilizer's, and ones specially made to feed roses. I suggest using store bought fertilizer to feed your roses. When reading the ingredients, you will see the higher phosphorus levels.

Each Rose fertilizer brand will have good directions, on feeding schedules.

Tip: Fertilize on a regular basis. I recommend every two or three weeks. Follow the directions on the fertilizer container. Use a higher nitrogen fertilizer at the beginning of the season. This will promote growth of leaves and roots, let say, it gets the bush off on the right footing... When buds start to pop, switch over to a food with higher phosphorus. This will ensure you bigger better blooms, and loads of wonderful flowers.

Aphids
Are soft-bodied insects about ¼ inch long. Aphids can be found in a range of colors from black to pink to white and pale green. They usually cluster on the new growth of perennials, roses, and woody plants. Adults and nymphs damage plants by sucking out sap. In small numbers, aphids do little harm. But they can rapidly build up to destructive numbers. Lady bugs love to eat aphids, so never chase off lady bugs...

A couple helpful tips, on ridding your garden of pesky aphids...

With spring comes the pesky little aphid. Aphids are soft-bodied sucking insects, they rarely kill plants in your landscaping, but they love to do damage in your floral garden.

Natural garden predators can help manage aphid populations, so to control aphids -- you should target the aphids, not the ladybugs, green lace wings, tiny parasitic wasps, and hover flies which are great little creatures that will help you rid your garden of the unwanted aphids pests.

Keep in mind, 90 percent of the bugs in your garden are necessary, to insure a healthy atmosphere in the garden. When using chemical pesticides, you are at risk of killing bugs indiscriminately. The short-term advantage that you will derive from pesticides will be overshadowed by the loss of beneficial insects, that help your garden stay healthy.

My roses garden is very healthy, and I attribute this great health to the healthy soil I provide the garden. I try to practice organic gardening, when possible. It is my belief if you feed the soil, the soil will feed the plant. Good healthy soil will aid to produce strong growth of plants, and insure that a large population of the organisms that will fight pests, and disease survive, to help me keep my garden healthy.

Aphids will always start on tender young growth as a rule in the spring. Aphids hate potassium, and will avoid it like the plague. Rose bushes love potassium. They thrive on it... So, don't toss out those banana peels, put those banana peels at the base of your rose bushes. Don't fret -- the peelings disappear into the soil within a day or two. Aphids are one of the most destructive bugs in a garden, they are especially destructive to rose bushes.

Inspect your rose bushes regularly for aphid infestation. Aphids secrete a sweet sticky substance, called honeydew. If honeydew is left on the leaves, it will serve as a growing medium for sooty mold. Sooty mold is black in color, ants are attracted to the sweet honeydew on the leaves, an

Want to have blooms all season? Deadheading the old spent flower will promote new bloom's...
The method I use has done me well, their are a couple methods to deadhead a rose. I use the traditional method. Just below a rose bloom you will see a leave stem with three leaves, look further down the stem, as you come to a juncture where you see two five leaf configurations in a row, one five leaf configuration will be about 1/2 inch below the other. You will be making your cut at the first five leaf configuration. Cut at a 45 degree angle just slightly above where the stem meets the leaf configuration, leaving the two five leaf configurations intact. See the photo to better understand where to cut. You will also see in the photo where the rose was deadheaded, and shows the new growth with new flower. As the plant is deadheaded again, new growth will repeat its self, producing a new flower.

If you don't deadhead old blooms, your rose bush will get spindly, with long stems,that may not produce new blooms in the current season. Deadheading will give you beautiful blooms all summer long.

Pruning and trimming: Rose bushes respond well to being manicured. Its important to prune your rose bushes on a regular basis. A well maintained rose bush should appear full, without appearing shaggy, and ill shaped.

Its important to allow several main stems to grow and develop without pruning. Allowing enough room between the stems for good air circulation. This trimming pattern will also help to avoid plant diseases. It will also cause the plant to promote growth at the remaining stems. This will ensure the bush will send off new stem shoots, where many new flowers will bud, and flourish.

A good rule of thumb that applies to rose pruning is: Prune immediately after flowering season. This means that if a rose blooms only once a year, it should be pruned right after the flowers have finished.

Do not overdo summer pruning. It can result in loss of too much sap. The repeat or continuous-flowering roses should be pruned when they are dormant, usually in January.

If you follow these simple steps, your tulpis will be more than happy to add years of beautiful color to your garden...

Instructions On planting Tulips...
Plant them right -- and reep loads of tulips...
Instructions
1. Select tulip by varieties, and types by flower color, and form, local adaptation, and bloom time.

Please visit link below to check out the easy directions on planting tulips...

There a a few great rules to follow when planting Geraniums. If planted correctly, you will have wonderful huge flowers from early summer to late fall.