Topic: The wonderful world of roses

[barleychown]

I really enjoy roses, both my own and other people's. With the right care they are such a happy sight, and they bloom when other plants are slowing down. The range of colors they come in is amazing!

These are from the rose garden in Eugene...





Do you have pictures you want to share? Tips for growing roses? Questions about roses? Let's talk roses!

[barleychown]

Three more from the rose garden:

[Patty S]

Sarah, I just love those Roses with variegated colors, but I only have one. (This is the one that I was telling you about when I saw you last week.) Someone told me the name of it once, but of course I didn't write it down! It was "Queen... something."
     

I finally got my red Tea Rose under control this year. The stems are so long on these, that I used to need a ladder to get a shot of them from the top! I ruthlessly shortened the bush in February, & have even cut it back more after blossoms were done, so the next ones wouldn't be touching the sky!
     

I only have 3 of these pink rose bushes now (started out with 17, when we first got here... ridiculous!) Two are next to my Lily garden, under the front window, & the other one is in the back yard. I don't know a name for them, other than "florabunda".  They bloom by the dozen(s), get dead headed, then come right back in the same abundance... year round, unless we have a hard winter!
     

The tea rose doesn't have a smell... it's just pretty & lasts for quite a while, as a cut flower. The pink ones smell heavenly!

Do you have... Tips for growing roses? Questions about roses? Let's talk roses!

Gosh, where does a person start with rose-growing tips?! Maybe with what I think is the most important maintenance action of all... THINNING. Healthy roses need good air circulation, so to avoid problems with Powdery Mildew & Black Spot, keep the middle of the bush open & trim away main branches that cross over each other.  I fight Black Spot occasionally, but regular spraying with a systemic disease control rose food and attention to air circulation usually arrests the problem pretty fast.

Also, if you want to have nice looking roses in your gardens & think they'll be a low maintenance addition, DON'T GO THERE! If you dont dead-head, the bush will use its energy to develop rose hips when the blossom dies back, instead of making more roses!

[barleychown]

Awesome roses, Patty! They sure look happy.

This rose is from my own collection...



I have a soft spot for lavender and purple roses, along with miniatures.

Another thing to remember about roses is that they need food to put on the amazing displays they do. Mine get a healthy dose of compost every year as mulch, and then a well balanced diet of organic fertilizers throughout the year. A happy, healthy rose stands a better chance of fighting off diseases and pests.

[patches]

Patty & Sarah, you both have some beautiful roses.    Actually, I've never been much of a rose person and I don't like the smell of them, but I can and do enjoy the beauty of them.      Sorry, I can't offer any tips for you since all I have is my Nearly Wide Rose and I don't think that really qualifies as a rose.   

[barleychown]

Patti...I also do not care for the traditional "rose" smell.  However, there are MANY different scents roses can be. Most of mine are from the citrus catagory...that is how the ARS classifies one of the many scents. I also have a rose that smells like black pepper!

[Patty S]

Well, I love the way roses smell! (Except for Sarah's pepper rose... that's quite a shocker!  Of course, being GREEN, it doesnt have a "traditional" appearance either!)

Does anyone use Epsom Salts on their roses? I do... when I remember to. Sarah told me recently that Roses love Alfalfa pellets (the horse kind... not rabbit) & I've been sprinkling them under my roses (& in all my gardens) for a couple weeks now, & everything sure seems happy!    In fact, I think that's what might have made my purple "Sterling Silver" rose wake up, cuz a couple of them just opened up the other day...
     

The only thing wrong with this rose is that it doesn't have a fragrance!

[Dianna]

Beautiful roses, Sarah and Patty!

I have a yellow one that has bloomed a couple of times. I think it has the typical rose smell. I posted a picture of her in Posies some time ago.

I have heard that you are supposed to bury bananas under roses, but I am not sure of the reason. Maybe it is to amend the soil or to nourish the plant or deter some kinds of bugs?

[Bonnie]

Absolutely beautiful.

[duh]

banana=potasium

Has anyone heard of the matador rose?  I had one in the 70's at a house we bought but I have never seen them for sale since.  I really like that rose.  the petals were red at the bottom orange in the middle and yellow around the edges.  Love that rose.

[barleychown]

That was a floribunda rose released in 1972. This site has photo's of it, along with nurseries who grow it.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/pl.php?n=4189&tab=1

[duh]

Thankyou for finding it.  I've put it in my favorites for when I win the lottery lol.  I know I'm a nut.

[duh]

In your second post the third picture down.  Did you happen to get the name of that rose?  I love it.

[christy]

beauitful roses !!! i love roses too! patty your pink queen somthing rose looks alot like my queen elizabeth tea rose 

[Triss]

Ok those sure are pretty roses!  May not be my fav's but I can appreciate their beauty.

[Patty S]

Pretty roses, Christy! My "Queen something" could very well be an "Elizabeth", but it's not a tea rose... I only wish they had long stems, cuz they're so much nicer in an arrangement than the stubby-stemmed ones! The only tea rose I have is my red "Jubilee".

I love your purple ones! I'm a total fool for purple flowers, especially roses. I don't think I've run across a purple rose yet though, that has "purple", "lavender", "lilac", "violet", "orchid", or anything that refers to PURPLE in the name!