Roses

Roses are the queen of all the garden flowers; they come in all shapes and glorious colours and are a great addition to your front or backyard. Valentine's Day and the Rose have been associated with love and affection for centuries. What better birthday or Christmas gift for a friend, neighbour, or loved one than a beautiful potted rose.

The rose needs sunshine, regular watering and a slow release fertiliser. Early morning soakings for your rose bushes are the way to go and take care to keep the water off the foliage and the blooms, water at ground level. Over head watering encourages black spot and mildew.

Pick your rose blooms regularly or lightly prune to encourage new rose buds to develop. Place your cut blooms in a clean vase of cold water immediately and they will hold their petals for much longer. The colour red is one that most gardeners will love when they are buying a rose bush, also one that is deeply perfumed with velvety petals; a favourite is 'President Roosevelt'  or  'Papa Meilland'.

My favourite is 'Mr Lincoln' it has a fabulous scent and is long stemmed, it is treasured by florists and home gardeners and certainly by me. Roses rate as the number one cut flower among gardeners all over the world.

Roses come in many forms such as; Bush Rose, Climbing Rose, The Standard Rose, Patio Rose, Weeping, Miniature, and Thornless Rose Bushes.