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Spring - Pacific Northwest
Finding the Right Site
Roses do best when they get at least 6 hours of direct sun per day. Morning sun dries the foliage earliest in the day, which may be wet from overnight rainfall or morning dew. Dampness can encourage fungal diseases, so to preventproblems provide adequate sunshine and air circulation around each plant.
No Room for Roses?
Roses grow well in containers if garden space is at a premium. Use a 16" pot to accommodate roots, and fill with a good grade of commercial potting soil. Remember that container roses must have winter protection because their roots are exposed to winter air temperatures. Put the pots on wheels and wheel them into an unheated garage for the winter
Preventing Rose Diseases
The best way to control fungal diseases is to prevent them. Water early in the morning, avoid wetting the leaves, provide good air circulation and be vigilant! When that fails, institute a preventive fungicidal spray program.
Curtailing Cane Borers
To stop cane borers from doing further damage, you have to prune back the affected canes below the hole. Inspect your canes for signs of recent activity. You can pull the grubs out of the holes by hand. Then seal the hole with a dab of Elmer's glue or a thumbtack.
Homemade Fertilizer for Roses
Banana peels make an excellent fertilizer for your roses. They add potassium -- which is needed for big beautiful blooms -- to your soil. Potassium also promotes plant vigor. For best results, shred the banana peels into small pieces. One application a month is all that's needed.
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Books:
Sugared Rose Petals
Ingredients:
1 cup miniature rose
petals, various colors
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
Cracked ice
Confectioners sugar
Preparation:
Wash organically grown miniature rose petals in clear water and dry on wire racks or paper towels. Trim away tough, bitter ends.
Combine sugar and water in saucepan and boil until mixture reaches 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Pour the simple syrup into a bowl that you've set on a bed of cracked ice.
As syrup begins to harden, hold petals with tongs or chopsticks and coat evenly with syrup. Dry sugared petals on waxed paper.
Dust with sifted confectioners or castor (fine grained) sugar. The sugar can be colored with food coloring to match the hue of the petals.
Serve sugared rose petals over ice cream, creme brulee, as decorations on cakes, or as garnish for dessert plates.
Shrub Roses of Today
If you're interested in learning about shrub roses, Shrub Roses of Today, by Graham Stuart Thomas, will get you going in the right direction. Thomas, who also illustrated this beautiful book, has covered more than 350 varieties of shrub roses and included chapters on fragrance, cultivation and pruning, wild species and their hybrids, and the evolution of uses of modern hybrid shrub roses.
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