Planting Roses

There's no need to wait for a dozen roses to show up at your doorstep when you can be growing your own. Roses can be grown just about anywhere in the country, and there are so many varieties to choose from. The three most widely grown varieties in gardens today are hybrid teas, floribundas and grandifloras.

Hybrid teas: If you like growing long-stemmed roses, you'll enjoy growing the hybrid teas, which have a single stem with one bloom on top. 'Chrystalline' is six to eight feet tall, blooms in a wide array of colors and very fragrant. The hybrid teas are a favorite in the gardening world, mainly because of the quality of each bloom. That's why florists all over the world use hybrid teas in their bouquets

Floribundas: Plants that have more blooms with bolder color, floribundas produce clusters of flowers on a single stem.

Grandifloras: The clusters are like those of floribundas except the blooms are twice as large and the plant grows up to six feet tall.

Tips on planting roses:

Amend the soil with three magic ingredients--peat moss, compost and cow manure. Also be sure that the site you choose has at least eight hours of sun per day. Bare-root roses should be moist; sink the roots in a bucket of water and add fish emulsion. Keep in mind that you save 40 percent by buying bare-root roses. Trim off the brown mushy root, and if any canes touch, remove them as well. Whether you have container or bare-root roses, it's important to locate the bud union to determine how deep the rose should be planted. In the south, the bud union should be level with the soil. In the north, it should be three inches below the soil surface. When planting bare-root roses, create a mound of soil in the bottom of the hole. Then lay old banana peels around the mound. This will add potassium, which should help your roses grow even better. Next, spread the roots apart and place them evenly over the mound. This technique keeps the roots from clumping together. Finally, fill in the hole with well-amended soil.