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| Peace is one of the all-time favorites from a master rose developer. |
- Location. The best place is one where everyone will see them most of the time. I prefer the East side of the house, which is perfect for this yard.
- Regal standing. The rose is the royal flower of the garden and should not be mixed up with equals, because there are no equals. There can be subordinate plants, like garlic or garlic chives, or bulbs that grow before the roses bloom. Therefore, a row of roses - better yet - rows of roses are best.
- Order them now. I counted room for seven, which is a good start for one or two types. Regan Nursery has the best list of 1000+ roses, with concise descriptions. I often order from Jackson and Perkins, because they have leftover roses for $10 if I have already ordered earlier.
- Selection. I thought Peace was blackspotty, but perhaps not. The idea is to order one or two types and take care of them. Double Delight is a new favorite. The Regan Nursery site is good because it is possible to search by aroma, etc. Peace has none. DD does.
- Planting Bare Root Roses. Amy has the best conditions - clay soil where grass is growing. When the roses arrive, holes should be dug at regular intervals (say 36 from each center) in the lawn. Forget all that crazy stuff about soaking them first, adding fertilizer - even if many roses survive the foolishness. Plant them on a tepee of soil, cutting the extra long and broken roots. Fill the hole with good soil and water them generously to settle down the soil. Keep the soil damp until the new leaves pop out.
- Jackson Mulch the rose garden. This will turn the lawn in the rose garden into the best compost possible. The nitrogen is there. Soil creatures are abundant. Dying grass and roots will do 100x more for the rose garden than osterizing the soil with a rototiller. Jackson Mulch consists of a good layer of newspapers, 100% coverage, with a heavy layer of wood based mulch on top of the newspapers. Leaves or compost could also be used on the newspapers, but a wood mulch is more attractive. This double layer will keep shallow rooted and deep rooted weeds from growing. The mulch will hold moisture in, reduce black spot, and attract birds. Soil creatures and fungi do most of the work in feeding plants, and they love mulch too.
- Uncle Jim's Red Wigglers. I am very happy with Uncle Jim's, but there are many red wiggler suppliers. Night crawlers are deep diggers, while red wigglers are most active in compost, which is what we create with Jackson Mulch. I will order another 2,000 to scatter among all my gardens. They reproduce very quickly and spread. They love compost, mulch, moisture, all organic material. Red wigglers will take soil with great potential and make it even better. In clay they will provide a lot more tunnels and casts (manure) to lighten the soil. They multiply the nutrients that roses need and sweeten the soil.
- Prune. Roses love to be pruned. Each pruning makes them grow more roots and blooms. The blooms want to go to seed, so letting them stay on the plant will slow down the plant. One can prune extra buds, too, to give more energy to the remaining buds. Prune away dead wood, broken parts, and crossing branches. If black spot appears, take away all affected leaves and perhaps cut away bad branches. Always prune away dead wood. John 15:1-10.
- Stay bird friendly. Suet and mulched areas feed the most desirable birds, and they devour insects. Birds especially want to bathe, so multiple shallow dishes are ideal for them. We had no insect damage on the roses all summer, and we did not spray.
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| Four Double Delight bushes are better than one each of four varieties. Planting groups of roses will yield better displays and bouquets. |
