Regional Growing Guide: Mid-Atlantic

Rose Bouquets

June's rose blooms don't compare to the roses in late summer and early fall. The rose plants have had a whole season with lots of water, nutrition and tender loving care. The bugs and blights have come and gone, and what is left is picture-perfect rose bushes with glossy green foliage and spotless flowers, perfect for enjoying in arrangements.

Cutting Roses
Don't hesitate to cut roses for indoor enjoyment; it does the plant no harm, and multiplies your enjoyment. Cut flowers in the morning or early evening. Put stems in a pail of lukewarm water as you cut them, and keep the cut roses in water in a cool, dark place until you are ready to arrange them. However, avoid cutting roses after October first; every cut on a rose bush encourages new growth, which could get nipped by a fall cold snap. So cut all the roses you want up until then, and let the plants gear down for winter starting in October.

Drying Roses
Cut roses can be enjoyed in a vase for a week or so or dried to be enjoyed for years. Dried roses make stunning Christmas wreaths and decorations. To dry them gather up some borax, yellow or white cornmeal, and an airtight plastic container. Mix up the borax and cornmeal in a ratio of 1 part borax to 4 parts cornmeal in the bottom of your plastic container. Make a little hollow in the mixture to gently nest the rose. Pour more borax mixture over the rose slowly and gently, making sure it filters between and under each petal. Petals need a little support from underneath so they can dry in the exact form you see today.

Seal the container, label it with the date, and set it right side up where it won't be disturbed for at least 2 weeks. At the end of that time, carefully unearth the rose. If it isn't thoroughly dried, place it back into the borax for another week. Experience will teach you which roses dry best, and how long to leave them to dry. Dried roses take on a color of their own. Red roses usually dry to an almost black, shaded with dark red. White roses dry to a cream color, and yellow and pink roses dry pretty much true to their original color. Once dried, attach them to wreaths and flat arrangements with a glue gun for holiday decorations.

A Twilight Rose Garden

Imagine coming home in the early evening twilight to a doorway flanked by luminous white rose blossoms. If work keeps you away from home during the day, evening might be the best time to enjoy your garden. If so, plan a garden area specifically for savoring flowers at twilight. White-flowered roses are a perfect choice to flank a deck, sunroom, or to plant near the window where you spend your evening hours.

Plants that bloom in colors of white, butter yellow, and the palest of pinks and lavenders stay bright after dusk and are the best choices for your twilight garden. Choose fragrant rose varieties, or be sure to include other fragrant flowers, such as Oriental lilies, alyssum, and nicotiana. Some flowers are especially fragrant at night.

Elegant Companions
Adding roses to your beds will bring light and fragrance up closer to eye level. Surrounding roses with a textured carpet of silver-leaved plants, such as mounding artemisia, heightens the effect. Intersperse these with dark-leaved plants to make the white and silver jump out. You'll be rewarded with a simple, elegant, and charming garden.

Hardscapes
A comfortable garden bench or swing completes the scene. Or, if you prefer to walk rather than sit, create a winding pathway among your evening plants. Use silver-leafed thyme between the stepping stones, and its woodsy fragrance will be released as you brush by the plants. Edge the path with silvery gray lamb's ears to help guide your ngihttime strolls, adding an occasional white impatiens or two in shady spots to create beautiful snowy mounds of brightness. Subtle, well-placed landscape lighting can enhance the effect.

In our workaday world, we may have limited time on weekdays to enjoy our gardens. A twilight garden allows us to enjoy our flowerbeds all week long.