Follow these tips for growing healthy roses and your garden will be the envy of the neighborhood. Roses are the rock stars of the garden. Rose bushes are stately and impressive, and the flowers look lovely for weeks at a time. Back in 1986 when Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, he signed a proclamation that named the rose as America’s national flower. Fittingly enough, the ceremony that certified “national flower” status for the rose was held at the White House Rose Garden. That’s just one reason why millions of rose bushes are planted every year. Despite the old-fashioned beliefs that roses can be tough to grow, advice from respected rose experts says otherwise. “All plants need the right growing conditions to thrive, and roses are no different,” said Chris Van Cleve, a writer and rose expert who calls himself the Redneck Rosarian. “Just provide the right growing conditions and the right care, and rose bushes can thrive in almost any garden.” Below are 5 … [Read more...] about Tips for Growing Healthy Roses
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Best Roses for Backyard Gardens
The best roses are truly the superstars of garden flowers. They are revered all over the world for their beauty. As a lifelong gardener, it was difficult for me to select the 10 best roses to grow in a backyard garden. Many great roses didn’t make the cut. (Such is the downside of creating a Top 10 list!) All of the roses on my best roses list have edible petals. In fact, these roses have delicious edible petals. That’s one of the reasons they made this list of Top 10 Roses. (Just cut off the white part at the base of the petals, which can be bitter.) If you would like more information—including six recipes that use edible rose petals—read Garden Roses: Queen of Edible Flowers. A word about growing roses All roses need full sun, preferably at least 6 hours of sun per day. Roses prefer to grow in moist, rich, sandy, well-drained soil. Rose bushes also like to be mulched with a 3-inch-deep layer of organic mulch. Roses like to be watered deeply but infrequently—perhaps … [Read more...] about Best Roses for Backyard Gardens
