Roses

Because the landscape had been neglected for almost a decade, the yard of my former home was full of horticultural surprises when we first moved in: daffodils that started blooming again once dug and divided, irises that smelled like grape lollipops, bulbs that sent up leaves in spring but didn't bloom until fall (colchicums) and [...]

Jack Falker is a rose enthusiast who gardens in Minnesota. Minnesota--in case you don't have the USDA Hardiness Map memorized--is entirely a cold climate state, consisting of Zone 3 and 4. (Okay, there is a teeny bit of Zone 5 in the most recent map, but still.) One can't grow roses in Minnesota without knowing [...]

There comes a time in every gardener's life when she realizes that a plant she has admired is not all it seems to be. Whatever the initial attraction, another side of the plant is discovered, and the gardener decides the relationship must end. I met Rosa multiflora through his fragrance. At this time of the [...]

I confess I haven't been reading much fiction lately, but when I was asked to review The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns I agreed for two reasons. One, there are precious few novels where a gardener is the protagonist and gardening is an integral element of the plot and theme. Two, I was [...]

Last October, when I planted some grafted roses, I explained how the graft needed to be four inches below soil level. And I pointed out how, with the roots extending a foot or more beyond the bud union, I wound up digging some pretty deep holes. Never again! Yesterday I heard Lee Ginenthal, who owns [...]

As I mentioned to Elizabeth, I've been busy planting roses. I received nine bareroot roses this spring from the generous folks at David Austin Roses. Three each of three varieties. I planted the three Crown Princess Margareta soon after they arrived. But I wanted to plant the other two varieties, Gertrude Jekyll and Sophy's Rose, [...]

Today I put alfalfa pellets around my roses and scratched it into the soil. The odd thing was, I couldn't remember why I was doing it. I knew I had read, or had been told, that it was good to give roses some alfalfa as they're just leafing out. But I couldn't remember where I [...]

Lee Ginenthal loves roses. And it's a good thing for me, and for all you cold climate gardeners out there, that Lee decided to focus on hardy roses which thrive in USDA hardiness zones 5, 4, and even 3. Lee operates Der Rosenmeister nursery from his home outside of Ithaca, NY. I visited there in [...]