Roses Are Easy                                                           Southern California

"Roses are red, violets are blue."
"My love's like a red, red rose."
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
"A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose."
"Best Jewel that the earth doth wear."

Gardeners and just about everyone else is crazy about roses. Some gardeners would prefer to love them from afar rather than grow them, because of the prickles or misinformation about their maintenance needs. But roses are really quite easy to keep healthy, and you don't need to deal with the prickles except when snipping blooms or pruning in winter.

So, let's take a quick look at what they need, and how much you need to invest in their upkeep to reap their beauty.

Purchase Proven Varieties
AARS winning roses are a best bet, since they've been proved themselves to be great growers all over the United States. Some dependable winners include Dream Come True, Mardi Gras, Rainbow Knock Out, Julia Child, Fourth of July, Tahitian Sunset -- as well as the original Peace, Knock Out and Hot Cocoa.

Plant Correctly
Choose a spot with good air circulation. Dig a hole 18 inches wide and deep, and mix in up to a maximum of 25 percent compost and manure. For a bare-root rose, form a cone in the center of the hole and spread roots evenly around cone. Gather soil over roots. Pack down firmly, but don't stomp on it (you don't want to compact the soil, just get it firmly in touch with the roots).

If you've purchased a container-grown plant, remove it from the container and mix any loose container soil into the native soil. If you just plop the plant into hole, the roots will have trouble making a healthy transition, since the potting mix will dry out more quickly than the surrounding soil.

Build a water moat wall one foot out from the plant. Fill the moat three times with water, letting it seep into the soil between fillings.

Mulch
Lay down 1 to 3 inches of compost and manure mixture. Keep it 2 inches away from the base, but spread it out 1 foot beyond the moat. This will provide constant fertilization as it gradually decomposes. You can add a banana peel or two to each rose's mulch each year for additional potassium. And, chipped bark will make an attractive top layer.

That's it! No need to spray, unless with a sharp blast from the hose to dislodge aphids (in spring), and spider mites (in summer). The rich, healthy soil you've amended will provide constant mild feeding so there's no quick green-up chemical-fertilizer-induced growth to attract pests.