From Problem Slopes To Beautiful Terraces

If you have a slope or incline on your property, you can turn it into a lovely garden oasis. Where weeds were once abundant, a lovely flower garden could grow. Or you might put in an organic vegetable garden. Despite the rugged terrain, the slope can become a lovely planted area, turning a liability into an asset.

Contour With Terraces

Terracing a slope can make a beautiful area in your landscape. It also broadens the options for what can be grown since it provides a level area for planting. It also makes it a lot easier to walk and work in the garden area when the area is level. Making terraces is unquestionably a lot of work, however, and can be expensive depending on the materials used.

In the past, railroad ties were considered a good source of material for making retaining walls for terraces. Railroad ties have rather fallen out of favor these days, and especially aren’t recommended for organic gardens. The big problem is the creosote used to preserve the wood. Since creosote is a toxic substance, contact with it can irritate the skin. Inhaling creosote fumes can irritate the respiratory trace.

Bottom line, it's nasty stuff. Besides direct contact, it can leach into the water and soil. When creosote leaches into the soil, it becomes available for the plants to absorb. If you’re growing vegetable plants, you’re going to eat whatever chemicals are in the plants. Because of all that, creosote treated lumber for your terracing isn’t a good idea.

Use Safe Wall Materials And Placement

For small projects where you’re just leveling out a little slope, the new landscaping boards such as those found at Gardens Alive! that are made out of recycled plastics are an option. When the slope is steeper, use concrete blocks, bricks, stone or modular retaining wall blocks. The various masonry options require varying levels of expertise, so be sure you know how to build walls with the materials you opt to use.

Since the idea of terracing is to provide level beds, the steepness of the slope will dictate the height of the walls. Of course, the higher the walls, the sturdier they need to be, and well anchored. Anchoring the terraces at each end into the slopes is especially important. They also need proper drainage.

The weight of the soil will push a lot on the walls, and that will be even worse after a rain. Walls that aren't well built could bow outwards or perhaps even collapse.

Building terraces is a big task. If it seems like to much to do yourself, there are landscaping contractors that can do the work for you. There would be more expense, of course, since you’ll not only have to pay for the materials, but their labor as well.

Prepare The Soil For Plants.

Because slopes often have erosion problems, it's always a good idea to enrich the soil before planting. Soil amendments such as compost, rich loam, well-rotted cow manure, peat or others can be worked into the soil so plants can grow better. Think about what plants you want to grow, however, and if you choose those that thrive in poor soil, don't enrich the soil much.

After the soil is ready, choose your plants, whether flowers or vegetables (DirectGardening.com - Offers quality plants at great prices). At the edge of the walls you can plant vines to trail over the sides, using either vegetables that vine, or flowering or foliage type vines, depending on what type of plants you’ve decided to raise in the terraced beds.

Terraces Are Long Term Investments.

Whle making terraces can be a lot of work and sometimes expensive, they're a great way to eradicate an eyesore, improve your land, and provide another place for an organic garden full of flowers or vegetables.

Your landscape can always use more plants.

Planting A Primrose Path

Planting A Primrose Path

An area of any size, a path of any length, or even a simple wooded corner has in it a potential Primrose Path. Whether four feet long or four hundred, it can have charm. It isn't necessarily length and size that make for success, but rather an indefinable element compounded of composition, arrangement, Tightness, and vigor of the plant material involved.

The soil on our Primrose Path is partly composed of rotted leaves and old stumps. It is rich and black and loose, and almost always slightly moist to the touch. The nearby stream runs with ample water the year round, and in flooding spring rains the primroses are occasionally under water. Our slope is slight and to the southwest. The plants bask in morning sun briefly till about eleven, when trees shade them, then again filtered sunlight dapples them through the afternoon.

Of course a brook isn't essential. And primroses will thrive as happily on east, south, or west slopes—but not so well on the north. They definitely do want a cool moist area, and shade from the noonday sun. In other words if your garden is high, dry, and hot, better to plant marigolds!

We have well over a hundred plants now, and our goal is unlimited. Each year we buy a few more from the catalogues, the local nursery, and the grocery store. (You can successfully transplant primroses in full flower.) Every year we also start more plants from seed (partly because a thousand of anything is costly).

Plant seeds outside in May, in a small six by six seedling corner of the vegetable garden that gets five hours of sun daily. We sow seeds one eighth to a quarter of an inch deep in light well-drained soil. In two weeks or so seedlings first appear. We thin them to stand six inches apart.

In the fall we cover the small thrifty plants with pine or evergreen boughs, and then leaves. The boughs prevent the leaves from packing on the crowns. The plants remain in the nursery through the first winter. Early the next spring they are set on the Primrose Path.

We dig a hole and loosen the soil in the area around it, giving each plant a site with plenty of good growing room. We free it from roots and encroaching greenery. A few trowels full of leaf mold or superphosphate mixed in the earth under the plant is helpful. Set each plant and firm the soil up around the crown but never cover it. Water, and then the fun begins. Observe how they take hold and grow. If there are normal spring rains no further watering is needed.

One of my favorite pastimes is to wander in our nearby woods with a small dump wagon or basket, collecting leaf mold and material from inside old rotted stumps. Both can be used in Or on top of the soil, and will greatly spur primroses to their best. Many of the first-year plants will flower the following spring on the Primrose Path. They'll be tentative, small blooms, to be sure, and only a few, but enough to reveal colors. The subsequent spring they really let go and bloom riotously.

The Rattlesnake Fern

The Rattlesnake Fern

Be not alarmed by the rattlesnake fern (Botrychium vir-ginianum, 5 in.-2 ft.) which has no special affinity for its namesake. This charming yet stately little plant is common and happy in rich shady woods. Here the plumelike sporophyll springs stiffly up amidst a cluster of sterile fronds. This fern fruits when small as well as large.

The royal fern (Osmunda regalis, 4-6 ft.) is a tall dramatic one with great high fronds. The root of it, as with some of the other osmundas, is the source of the familiar orchid potting material. It is most at home along the banks of streams where it rises in dignity to wave its dense and lovely fronds in the breeze. The spring fronds are golden brown and appear in clusters from the midst of its cushion of black wiry "osmunda" root.

The sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis, 3 ft.) is sensitive to frost, not to human touch. At the first real cold snap in the fall it folds up for the season. The coarse erect fronds are thin in texture. The sporophyll appears in midsummer. The dark green berry-like nubs on it are actually rolled-up pinnules holding spore cases. Do examine these delicate forms under a magnifying glass.

The toothed wood fern (Dryopteris spinulosa, or Aspidium spinulosum, 3 ft.) has graceful curving fronds and interesting scaly stems. You may wander through great stretches of it enjoying the feel of feathery fronds on bare legs, and stirred by the rhythmic swaying patterns created in the gentlest breeze. Notice how the fronds spring up in an almost perfect circle from the ground. This fern loves to find a decaying old tree stump to grow in.

Fern Culture

Ferns may be dug in the woods spring or fall. There are also a number of mail-order growers that specialize. If you bring your own from the woods, observe the direction they face and plant them so they face likewise. Your success is assured if you can match up the new location in your garden (including soil and exposure) with the spot where you found them. However, it is heartening to know that many ferns grow in more than one type of soil and location. They are far more adaptable than we give them credit for. This is one factor that makes them easy to transplant and grow.

Also note, as you dig, how shallow the roots of ferns are. Set them likewise in your garden. In general, a northern exposure is ideal; east or west is also fine, and, occasionally, for some few ferns, a southern slope.

While ferns need moisture in the soil they never want sog-giness. Good drainage is vital. For most species a safe rule is: Filtered sunlight or none at all. Ferns require absolutely no upkeep. Their roots are too near the surface for cultivation. Nature keeps a fine, cool, leaf mulch over the ground all year.

These constantly rotting leaves contribute to soil enrichment. The old fronds of some sorts brown and drop during the summer. If you are the neat type these can be trimmed away. We like this rusty brown note amongst the midsummer greens, so we don't bother to trim.

Ideal fern soil is, of course, woods soil. If you should want to create a fernery in a place where you must change the soil, the perfect mixture is equal parts sand, garden soil, peat moss and leaf mold. If you have no peat, change the mixture to two parts leaf mold. Of course if you plant ferns in an area similar to where you found them in the woods, you need move no soil, and do nothing further. Just let them take over.

But, on general principles, carry a bushel basket and shovel in the trunk of your car. We enjoy exploring woods and always have an eye out for some old decaying stump to scoop out for our newly planted ferns at home. Also valuable is the rich black leaf mold just under the leaf surface of the forest floor. In our wanderings we are often stopped by the beauty of a fern shape silhouetted against an old tumbling stone wall, or against the dark still waters of a stream. And we may pause to admire that one yellow frond curving up against a rough-textured tree trunk, and reflecting one small flicker of filtered sunlight.

Not only for their beauty, great as it is, but also because of almost no upkeep, ferns are for you. In other words, if you, like we, are pining to be a lazy gardener, plant ferns!

The Wonder Of Snowdrops

The Wonder Of Snowdrops

One of the first flowers to emerge in our snow garden at the end of the winter are snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis). Pure white and delicate they are, with wax like single and double flowers. Each cup-shaped blossom has six petals. The outer three are white, and the inner three striped green. Deep in the cup is a small cluster of yellow stamens. The blossoms hang down, so be sure to tip one up so you can observe the charming formation within. If you have a magnifying glass handy, take a really good look. The inner rims of the double flowers are "scrunched" and crinkled pale green.

Plant snowdrop bulbs 3 inches deep and about 3 inches apart and have about eighteen to a square foot. They also do best if allowed to form a good root growth before winter deeply freezes the soil, so set them out at the same time as the eranthis.

Would you like an unlimited supply of ink-blue, 3 inch-tall daisies that sit on a cushion of feathery green fernlike foliage? If so plant the so-called Greek anemone (Anemone blanda atrocoerulea) in your garden in the snow. Set a dozen tuberous roots in a cluster, each 2 inches apart and 3 inches deep.

Early Iris

Add a note of purple with Iris reticulata, 2 to 4 inches high, with utterly enchanting flowers touched with deep orange "fur" along their out curving petals. Stir a bit of lime in the soil under the bulbs before you set them. Plant 3 inches apart and in groups of a dozen. Another early iris is I. danfordiae, the golden-yellow counterpart of I. reticulata; both come at the same time. Danford iris grows but 3 inches high and is a must,

Both these iris bring fragrance to the early garden. A scent akin to that of sweet violets emerges as they unfurl into the first tentative warming days.

Then another tiny flower—glory-of-the-snow, chionodoxa, —comes poking up through snow and ice. The 4 inch stems may bear anywhere from 8 to 15 blossoms, each blossom with curving tiny petals and white centers. There is Chionodoxa luciliae, bright blue, plus the white and pink forms; also C. sardiniensis, gentian blue and huge, with 15 flowers to a stem.

The water lily tulip, Tulipa kaufmanniana, on 6 inch stems, opens out flat to reveal a white interior that shades to yellow at the petal base. When in bud the carmine-salmon-pink ex¬terior is a delight. Since the flowers fold at night and open each day they are constantly changing form. The folded bud is slim and pointed and utterly beautiful. The seed pods are also lovely—such interesting peaked shapes. It is gratifying to see them burst open and spread their seeds abroad. Thus they naturalize and increase from year to year.

The early crocuses—another of the "great eight"—bring white, blue and yellow to the little flower corner. The earliest of all is Crocus susianus— a gold crocus with a brown exterior. C. moesicus, a brilliant golden yellow, follows closely. Crowding along together come C. tomasinianus, pale lavender with a silvery gray exterior, C. seiberi, deep blue with gold in the throat, and C. korolkowi, yellow with a bronze exterior. Plant these in generous groups 3 inches deep and 2 apart. The clumps will spread each year—lending greater gaiety to the small winter garden. Often flowering with the early crocuses is the miniature yellow jonquil—Narcissus jonquilla simplex.

Last of the eight to appear are the scillas: Scilla sibirica, bright blue, S. bifolia, rich dark blue, and S. bifolia alba, pure white. They punctuate the finale of this winter garden. Further south all these plants would probably bloom in February, possibly January.

The Beauty Of Dianthus

The Beauty Of Dianthus

If you've ever seen pinks (dianthus) spreading its charming gray green leaf tones and giddy little fringed and fragrant flowers through the Cape Cod cemeteries and along the roadside, you'll know you must have them on your own home property. What a variety of dianthus are yours for the growing.

White, pink and mauve flowers with fringed and tangled petals —fragrant always. These long-lasting lovely little harbingers of early summer are utterly irresistible.

Consider the area where you'd like to naturalize dianthus. They need full sun, will hold their own in field grass if given a good start. They like light sandy soil but will thrive in poor soil if it is on the sandy side, not clay. When you have selected a possible area for your project, buy a few plants and set them out and see what they do the next year. This we did in a part of our meadow where the black-eyed susans and daisies grow. The few plants thrived so we started our project.

To naturalize dianthus in a field, dig a good spot for each plant, removing all grass roots and clearing a space around each planting site. The dianthus will take over if you give them a very good start. Keep grass from growing over them the first year or two. Water them during droughts the first year. After that the dianthus comes up along with the field grass and merges with it. The dianthus area may be mowed, along with the rest of the field, but not too close to the ground. Once a year is enough, preferably in late August or September, by which time the plants have had a chance to reseed.

Year after year dianthus will grow and multiply, sending their fragrance far and wide. Ours grow in our field within fragrance range of our sleeping porch. We are naturalizing many things within range of this porch, for we like to sleep on summer nights with nature's scents about us—along with the sound of the whip-poor-wills.

Sometimes hollyhocks can be established in the wild and sometimes not. If you have a sunny rich soil, perhaps near a pile of manure or compost, they are worth trying. Once I saw masses emerging from the edge of a dump in Vermont. If hollyhocks do take hold, they will return year after year, cross-fertilizing to bring a variety of colors and shades.

One huge day-lily, a nameless but beautiful golden yellow variety, flowers along a wall in semishade. It gets no attention from one year to another—yet through each July it is a sensation of lovely yellow trumpets. Nearly thirty flowers come at once on our plant. We can see it from the living room windows, but it is worth frequent trips outside for closer examination.

Tradescantia (spiderwort) is a plant that will grow and hold its own in tall grass and untrimmed areas. It sends up charming flowers—blue, pink, violet. The white with a blue center is the subtlest and loveliest of all. The first blooms open in June, then the plant rests in mid-summer. It flowers again in the early fall, persisting until frost.

Have you ever seen yucca, towering 12 feet high on the Santa Maria coast ranges in California? It is sometimes called Adam's needle, and might better be named Adam's Candle, for it rises like a great white torch—high on the steepest slopes. Yucca doesn't grow as tall in the east—maybe only 6 or 8 feet. But even then its striking form and fearsome foliage, with thread-like raffles on the ends of stiff leaves, make it a fine contrast to our lush feathery mid-summer plant shapes. Plant yuccas in a dry sunny spot and forget them.

Johnny-jump-ups are charming little flowers that will grow, among other places, in the gravel of your drive. Once you get them started on your place there is just no telling where they will turn up. They grow like grass through our vegetable garden and we let them, removing them only to plant other more important things. The little plants shade the ground, keep it cool and serve as a wonderful ground cover. Remember, though, they face to the south, so grow them where you can

walk along to the south side of them so you can look directly into their appealing little faces. They will grow anywhere in full sun or semishade—just start them off and let them go.

Let Your Perennials Grow Wild

Let Your Perennials Grow Wild

There are two ways to have colorful plantings and still hold the line on upkeep. In addition to bringing flowers from woods and meadows to your garden, you can let some of your garden flowers run wild.

Many perennials that grow in dignity in a well-ordered, well-weeded border will, if permitted, contribute the same color, fragrance, and beauty to another area. Suppose you let them run loose in your own tiny or large meadow or woodsy area.

Wherever you set them to naturalize, bee balm, spiderwort and dianthus become as independent as the native flower, needing no watering, weeding or feeding. This is an ideal way to simplify gardening at no sacrifice of beauty in the ground or indoors in cut flower arrangements. After all, most if not all of our garden flowers were once wild; the domesticated state in which we are accustomed to seeing them isn't their natural one.

I was first inspired to experiment with this idea one day towards the end of summer when I found iris and corn trying to occupy exactly the same spot in our vegetable garden. I uprooted the iris, but it looked so good I simply could not throw it away. Neighbors took some but there were still plenty of clumps left. I took them down the South Meadow to a spot where it is sunny all day and slightly boggy. With no heart for digging in the tough grass, and also in the spirit of experimentation, I merely dumped the plants, though I did take the trouble to set them right side up. Picking up some loose hay that lay nearby (the meadow had had its annual cut a few weeks before) I tossed it over the rhizomes and promptly forgot them. Yes, you've guessed it. The next year, up came the iris, all blooming like mad. They're still going strong.

Of course, I don't recommend such casual treatment. But, actually many perennials can be handled in ways not much more complicated than that. Thus you can transfer to the uncultivated areas of your outdoors a great number of flowering plants with small effort and rich rewards.

My mother's favorite flower was lily-of-the-valley. I always wanted some but hesitated because of the need for clearing an area, digging a bed, keeping it tended, etc. There is no place for such a bed in our wild meadows. But one day when walking in the neighboring woods we came upon remnants of a long-since vanished house—only a stone section from the cellar wall remained standing. And the whole area in and around this was one mass of lily-of-the-valley, so solid and dense that no weed could struggle up in its midst. If lily-of-the-valley would do that here, why not for us? With permission, I dug up some of the plants and settled them under the trees along our old stone wall. There they now thrive with no care, producing masses of flowers each season. The first year or so I kept the weeds out—and now in December if I feel benevolent I give the plants a few tosses of manure. (Since they grow next to the manure pile, this is simple.)

Bee balm offered another pleasant experience in carefree gardening. Down in a semi-shaded area along the stream where the ground is not boggy but never gets really bone dry either, there was a tangle of jewel weed and miscellaneous grasses. I planted a red-flowered variety of bee balm in the midst of the tangle. All I did first was to sickle the area. This time I did not set the plants on top of the earth but in it, though I did not worry about surrounding weeds. In three years they have grown and multiplied amazingly. We have the fun each year of watching the humming birds come to this plant for their summer dinners, and from the terrace we often look down and see several ruby throats hovering among the scarlet blossoms.

In our meadow I set out a half-dozen plants of sun-loving coreopsis. I had seen them running riot over New England meadows, so I had no qualms. Ours have exceeded all expectations, spreading over three times their original area. All summer we can, at will, cut a golden bouquet for the house.

Use hay to improve your soil!

Use hay to improve your soil!

You may think of hay as that sweet-smelling stuff that fills the lofts of country barns with something soft for the young to bounce on. Perhaps in your youth hay came down a chute in the barn and you fed it to your pony, hoping he wouldn't nip your fingers. Or is hay to you that beautiful fragrance over New England meadows in early summer, when it lies freshly cut, neat and combed?

Whatever your previous concept, one thing is sure: If you are looking for a guaranteed low-labor method of soil improvement, hay can be one of your best allies. A thick layer of ordinary field hay will actually prepare any area for planting, literally transforming a piece of nubby ground into soft soil ready for growing plants. And no digging and sod removal are involved. All this will occur in eight months to a year, depending on how tough the field is.

Suppose you have a desire to plant flowering shrubs, or a hedge of the self-sufficient multi flora roses at the wilderness edges of your place, or where the area is thick with weeds, field grass, heavy turf. Perhaps the very thought of plunging a spade into such matted earth fills you with dismay. A disc harrow and tractor seem needed to penetrate. Suppose you would like to set out some fruit trees, but the place for each tree must be dug and prepared at least 3 feet in diameter, which is a prospect to give you pause. But with the hay treatment it will be easy to prepare these or any areas you wish to plant.

How To Plant Sans Spade

First you decide on the shape and size of area you'd like to plant next year, and then pile hay 2 feet deep on that area. The grass or weed growth beneath is deprived of air and light. No matter how tough its fiber, it soon dies and rots. Very likely you have noticed that when heavy leaves are left on a lawn, a brown spot develops beneath, so it is easy to understand how the grass under deep hay could completely disintegrate in a number of months.

Having piled on the hay, forget the whole thing till next year.

When you remove the hay, the area will be free of grass and ready to work. Roots dead and rotting under the soil surface are left to fertilize and add organic matter to the soil in your new planting. You should not have to do any over-all spading of the area. Simply trowel out enough soil to make a hole as large as each new plant requires. Depending on what you are planting you conceivably may want to remove the few unrotted roots encountered. In any case, run your spade around the edge of the area to sever live roots coming from the surrounding sod or scrub growth and thus prevent them from encroaching.

Where To Find Hay

How does one come by hay? There are many possibilities. Do you live near a parkway or in a semi-rural area where the edges of the road are mowed? If so, the workmen are usually delighted to deliver the raked piles to your place—saves them carting them to the dump. Have you a meadow that is cut annually? Or do you know anyone who has? Just ordinary meadow grass is fine for this purpose. And of course you can buy "spoiled hay." There is nothing sloppy or unattractive about spoiled hay. It is as dry and pleasant to handle as fresh cut material. It has merely been caught in the rain so that it cannot be fed to livestock. Farmers bale it for organic gardeners to use as mulch. It costs $5 a bale delivered in our vicinity, and $2 if we go and get it. Three bales would prepare an area 12 by 12 feet for planting. You take the bale apart and fluff up the hay as you spread it.

After you have laid hay thick on the chosen area, bacterial action begins in the soil beneath. As the hay decomposes it helps enrich the soil. Earthworms gather in abundance and thus aid in transforming both grass roots and hay into organic matter. Nitrogen in the soil is used up by the bacteria that decompose organic matter. Subsequently the nitrogen is returned to the soil many fold, but in the meantime supplementary nitrogen feeding may be indicated. A sprinkling of lime over the earth before you lay on the hay is not a must but does keep the material sweet.

You can prepare for planting and achieve the same end with compost topped by hay. Spread the area with layers of grass clippings, dead weeds, straw, pine needles, corn stalks, weeds or any organic matter that you would put in the compost pile.

You actually are building a compost pile "on the spot," on the place you are preparing. Then neatly cover this material with a layer of hay, or topsoil if you have no hay. The soil is not essential but looks neater. Add lime in the layers as you arrange them. When you plant the following year the hay or compost which has not completely rotted can easily be removed and used elsewhere as a mulch.

Salt hay is all right as a mulch but since it won't rot it doesn't contribute the same food value that fresh cut hay or other organic materials do. All winter under the sleet and snow as Christmas passes into Ground Hog Day, decomposition is taking place under your hay. Then come spring, when the snow melts away and the land dries up a bit, rake away the hay and there is the miracle of fresh new black earth. I must say we greatly prefer this rather indirect approach to digging up a new area for planting—and what could be simpler?

The Beautiful Benefits Of A Small Lawn

The Beautiful Benefits Of A Small Lawn

Although we enjoy tremendously our big meadow-lawn, we also get a great deal of satisfaction from the 12 to 15-foot swath of regular mowed lawn around the house. We have developed some easy procedures for its maintenance. All are in the let's-keep-it-simple vein.

We cut this strip of lawn each week. We feed it with a 5-10-5 chemical fertilizer in early April, an organic one in mid-summer and again in early September, and that's it. Our lawn is more "grass" than lawn in the orthodox sense. We have a democratic assortment of grasses in it and a lot of clover. It's heartening to see the clover in the quick, lush summer periods unfold its myriad furry white flowers, spread its seed, and grow thicker. Some say clover stains clothes and is slippery. But we love the flowers, and sometimes when we most need it we find a four-leaf clover!

Though our lawn is heterogeneous, it pleases us and feels fine to walk on, particularly bare-footed in the morning dew. This is supposed to do something special for you, I forget now just what, but something significant.

Permanently Improve Your Soil

The surest way to success with lawns, as with all parts of the gardening, is to work toward building up the quality of the soil. The slow-acting organic fertilizers do this. Applied midsummer and fall they gradually improve the earth. Among the best are dried ground fish meal, bone meal, pulverized sheep manure and shredded cattle manure, and wood ashes from the fireplace. But in the spring, especially in a new lawn, a quick-acting chemical mixture encourages rapid growth before crab-grass stirs to action. There is another advantage in using chemical fertilizers in the spring. The bacterial action needed to release food elements in an organic fertilizer does not occur until the soil temperature rises above 60 degrees.

Much spring grass growth occurs when the mercury is well below this. The elements in chemical foods are immediately available and promote a quick and welcome early growth. The lawn fertilizer compounds containing urea-form nitrogen are excellent and time-saving too.

The principal of developing a good lawn is to encourage grass growth when weeds are weakest. This means feeding twice a year: in early spring before the perennial weeds really get under way, and in early September when crabgrass and annual weeds have spent their vitality and there are still two months of good-grass growing weather before frost.

Don`t Worry About Weeds

How much weeding you do depends upon your temperament. We make good use of one of the long hollow tubes (Killer Kane is one of the trade names) that contain a liquid weed killer for spot treatment of dandelions and other broad-leaved weeds. Beyond that we do nothing. But if you do pull or spray crabgrass, do it early before it goes to seed. (The seeds can lie dormant in the soil and sprout many years later). So eliminate the crabgrass when young, level the spot and reseed with a good grass immediately. Keep the soil moist until seedlings become established.

Never weed unless it's really fun. My mother used to love it. In her seventies she'd settle for the afternoon on a cushion beneath a large hat with gloves and a basket. This, she always said, was her golf. Our "golf" is a host of other activities—flying kites, swimming, exploring woods. Well—you should take your golf where you find it, and if it is weeding lawns, more power to you. It really does improve them.

Rolling & Cutting

It does seem rather ridiculous the way we feed our lawns so they will grow, and as soon as they grow we cut—and complain about the need for frequent cutting. But then, a lot of things we humans do seem sort of silly and we keep right on doing them. Actually a vigorously growing lawn is best able to resist diseases and weed invasions.

Small lawns are fine. If you possibly can do so, keep yours small enough so you can enjoy it, with mowing quickly done and never a chore. A strip of green lawn makes a pleasant setting for a home. Looking from the inside out, we find it quiet and inviting. Perhaps a robin on the green is in a tug of war with a large and resisting worm. Or maybe a rabbit darts across. Considered from a distance, a house rising from a frame of lawn looks attractive and the fragrance of newly-cut grass is an additional joy. A lawn is indeed important but, for us, acceptable only if it is a small one. Let the rest be meadow!

Would you like a meadow lawn?

Would you like a meadow lawn?

If you, too, are converted to the idea of a meadow instead of a typical lawn, this is the way to go about it. First assess your site. If you have a twenty-five to fifty-foot stretch of fringe growth or wilderness area anywhere, you could let part of it go even wilder and enjoy there some of the meadow flowers. If you own a larger field, you are really set. You might even consider letting part of the actual lawn grow into meadow—it would mean lots less upkeep and a new kind of gardening for you.

Of principal importance: Don't mow the area till late August. Observe the area from spring on and see what plants come up by themselves. This interval will also allow what comes up to go to seed. All through the first season note and mark areas where no flowers come and where you'd like some. Plan then to sow these areas the next spring.

In naturalizing meadow flowers your eventual goal is not a half dozen of anything but a hundred or, preferably, a thousand. Only Nature can be this lavish in planting (to buy even fifty plants would be prohibitively expensive), so you start with a few plants which, once established, will reseed by themselves. You can transplant anything at any season if you follow these few suggestions.

If you go plant-hunting on public property, first check to be sure that what you are about to dig is not on the conservation list in your location. Fortunately most of the plants mentioned here are not. Usually anyone who has a field will gladly share his abundance with you. I asked the man in charge of our neighbouring reservoir if I could dig some white pentstemon from along the water's edge. "Those weeds?" he called, then, "take all you want!"

Here's a very important point: study the site where the plant you want is growing and then provide in your landscape an environment reasonably similar as to location, sun or shade, slope of land, moisture or dryness, rich or poor soil. However, some plants will thrive in various locations, and this invites you to experiment.

If you possibly can—by referring to advance weather reports (or simply by hunch)—plan to dig the plants just before a rainy spell. You'll need a sharp spade, really sharp. If it is dull, have it sharpened, so you'll be able to cut into dense field sod with ease. A sturdy fork may be advisable, too. When you lift the plants to take them home, take as much soil as you can with each one, disturbing the roots as little as possible.

If you are transplanting on a sunny day, wait until late afternoon or early evening to settle the newly dug clumps of plants in your meadow. If you can, soak the soil first, this softens the earth and facilitates digging. When you do dig planting holes —and this is really a matter of turning back a large hunk of meadow sod—loosen the soil a spade depth beneath, and then set the plant. Often two or three plants can be spaced out in the same hole. Even the holes should be close, a mere few inches between them. This way the new plants can grow thickly and present a solid front to encroaching grasses.

And now for the most vital point. Before you fill in with dirt and fold the sod down again, pour water in the hole. It is not enough to plant them all and then water the top of the ground. The water must be in the soil, under and all around

the newly set roots. Then, water daily until new growth commences, or until the leaves feel stiff with renewed vitality. If, with luck, a three-day rain comes on the heels of your planting, you may not need to water for quite a while after the original soaking. Even if you plant in the rain you must soak the soil in the hole. If a drought comes along during the next few weeks, water all the new plantings as needed.

It is most satisfying to collect plants in flower. Those we have successfully moved in midsummer and in midbloom include bouncing bet, pentstemon, and bellflower. When you dig up mature plants, do not be concerned if the surrounding grass is tall and tangles with them. It is only with young seedlings that you need to bother about removing weeds and grasses from the soil clump.

A selection of ferns for you.

A selection of ferns for you.

The Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides, 15-18 in.) with rich dark glossy leaves, is one of the sturdiest and most dependable. Last year's fronds are still green as this year's new ones emerge. You can easily recognize the Christmas fern for each pinna is shaped like a long Christmas stocking, foot and all (foot against the stem). Light brown scales also cling to the stalk. One plant for years remains one plant. It spreads by spores alone, not by underground runners or by division of clumps.

The evergreen wood-fern, leather wood-fern or marginal shield fern (Dryopteris marginalise 2-3 ft.) weathers almost any winter and is found among snowy boulders in thickly forested areas. It is common, easy to grow, and spreads very slowly, remaining a single plant for some time. You will recognize this fern by fruit dots located on the margins of the pinnae, the chestnut brown scales on the stems, and its habit in the growing season of erupting its roots several inches up out of the ground!

The common polypody (Polypodium vulgare, 4-10 in.) sends a parade of erect fronds marching across the surface of rocky ledges where they are bright green whether surrounded by snow or by summer. They soften harsh ledges wherever they grow, also cling to steep banks, and make splendid terrarium material.

The ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron, 4-12 in.) is almost evergreen. You can find its twisting turning stem and delicate green pinnae snuggled in any bank of snow along with ground pine and cedar. It takes many hard freezes before this fern finally gives up. It is ideal for terrariums.

Bublet Berries

The berry bladder fern (Cystopteris bulbifera, 2-3 ft.) not only likes rich moist woods but is often found clinging to limestone cliffs. A fine ground-cover for large areas, it spreads rapidly. You will know it by its tapering almost vinelike fronds, but more especially by the tiny bulblets at the base of the pinnae that drop to the ground and sprout (hence the "berry" in its common name). It also bears the more conven¬tional fruit dots.

Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum, 3-4 ft.) which has a nice Scotch sound, does thrive in great sweeps in Scotland as well as in almost every country in the world. In England it was the basis of an old time medicine. And in rural areas many a mattress was stuffed with the fronds to prevent rickets! Bracken is an informal fern suitable for casual plantings. It is one of the most adaptable and will grow anywhere—wet, dry, sun, shade, high, low, hot, cold. Where nothing else will live the bracken fern will thrive, and spread furiously. The sporophyll edges curl under, and spore cases are hidden beneath these rolls.

The cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea, 3-5 ft.) is not only one of the loveliest ferns but also one of the easiest to grow. You will know it by the abundance of golden brown wooliness on its unwinding fronds in the spring. Also characteristic are brown wool-like hairs on the stem, a tuft of down at the base of each pinna, and several long slender lovely sporophyll during the summer. The fruiting stalk is a rich cocoa brown, erect and clustered.

The fragile fern or brittle bladder fern (Cystopteris fragilia, 5-18 in.) is not too fragile to grow the world over, even in the frigid areas of Greenland and Alaska. Thus it actually is a robust grower; the brittleness of its stems is responsible for its name. Clinging to shaded rock ledges, it also grows on the ground, and is among the first ferns to start up in the spring.

Ferns That Like Meadows

Ferns That Like Meadows

The hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula, 2-3 ft.) is found in sunny openings in rocky woods where its light green lacy fronds grow in dense masses. It spreads madly, and even when transplanted produces new fronds from underground runners all season. The fronds taper gradually at the tip. When cut, crushed, or dried, the foliage gives off a wonderful sun-on-the-meadow scent.

Interrupted-fern (Osmunda claytoniana, 4 ft.) is very like the cinnamon fern but the identifying feature is its freedom from tuft at the base of the pinnae. On the sporophyll the orderly march of pinnae up the stem is interrupted by a section of twisted curled dark brown spore cases—a most interesting feature and, of course, the reason for its name. Very hardy, very easy, very beautiful.

The lady fern (Athyrium filisfemina, or Asplenium filis-femina, 3 ft.) though delicate to look upon, is tough, and a rank grower. By fall it becomes raggedy and loses its color, but all summer its soft green fronds and feathery look make it a must. The curved fruit dots are one of its identifying features;

also, the pinnae increase in length sharply from the tip of the frond to the base, giving it a triangular look.

Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum, 1-3 ft.) is a delicate, lovely species that grows in rich moist leafy soil. It will be content in a rocky, well-drained location, especially on a steep bank. In the spring the fronds uncurl in small wiry button¬hook designs of a deep magenta color. These fronds open into a sort of semi-circle pattern. The whole effect of the plant suggests, in color and texture, wild columbine, or meadow rue. This is the fern that dances. The fluttering delicate pinnae are ever in motion, so susceptible are they to every breeze. New fronds constantly emerging from the running rootstock produce fresh green foliage from April to September. This is one of the most beautiful of all ferns in its swirling patterns, its rhythms, and dancing grace.

The marsh fern (Dryopteris thelypteris, 2 ft.) grows under the speckled alders, or perhaps you'll find some plants in a sunny bog among the cattails, facing their fronds helter skelter in any old direction. This is a rampant grower. Its lower pinnate are very long, and the pinnules of the sporophyll appear pointed because of reflexed edges.

The New York fern (Dryopteris noveboracensis, 1-2 ft.), though related to the marsh fern, is different in that the fronds taper at both ends. New Yorkers are said to burn their candles at both ends, hence its name! The fronds, thin in texture, grow erect and are arranged in parallel ranks facing the light. Stems are smooth and scale-free. What a pleasant odor the fern emits when crushed, and what a fine ground-cover it creates, multiplying and spreading rapidly. Look for the fruit dots on the margins of the pinnules.

The oak fern (Dryopteris disjuncto, 1 ft.) is a delicate and beautiful triangular-shaped fern whose very pointed pinnae grow opposite each other on the stem. It thrives in the company of hemlocks and cedars and must have constant dampness and perfect drainage.

The ostrich fern (Pteretis nodulosa, or P. struthioteris, 4-7 ft.), a lovely plumy variety, reproduces from its underground runners one new plant every second year. It spreads most rapidly in rich wet woods. In July the short bronze sporophyll, resembling curled fronds, rises up in the center of the plant.

Grow Your Own Flower Hybrids

Grow Your Own Flower Hybrids

Producing your own hybrids can be profitable. Your first step will be to take pollen from one flower and place it on the stigma of another. The best time is when the blossom has been expanded at least 3 days. The pollinated flower will drop off, and you will notice the formation of a half-sphere—this is the seed capsule, within the calyx. Seeds ripen in 6 to 8 weeks when the capsule splits. Clip the capsule to keep the seeds from falling onto the soil. Remove and store in a cool dry place. Vitality of seeds diminishes with age.

There are endless possibilities in gloxinia hybridization. Most of the species will cross successfully with hybrid forms. And since the species have a richness and flexibility of foliage that is lacking in modern forms, they should be good material for you to use in your hybridizing program.

Should some of your hybrids impress you and your customers as really choice, you may want to work on the strain. Do it by self-pollinating the plants or by pollinating the hybrids with one of the parents, depending on which trait you wish to encourage and enlarge upon.

One of my most beautiful slipper strains resulted from a cross between a wide-faced white-and-purple gloxinia and a pink form of Sinningia species. From this cross came a range of huge, ruffled, pink-flushed, white slipper gloxinias. As I lacked room to grow them on, I sold some of the tubers to a florist who was eager to propagate them.

Another beautiful batch of gloxinias came from a cross I made between a pink slipper and S. macrophylla. Flowers were in shades of blue, lavender, and deep purple; foliage was intermediate between the two parents—light olive-green, soft rose underneath. A commercial grower tested these seeds for me, as I lacked space for a fair trial. He declared that he had never had so beautiful a group of slipper types as had come from these seeds. To preserve the seed strain, I grew a few and I supply one commercial house with about fifty tubers of these a year. I receive 40 cents apiece for these. I also include some of the seeds in my gesneriad mixture.

Crosses to Try

Here are some other interesting crosses to try: Use the handsome, white-veined, green-leaved S. regina, with nodding purple flowers, as the seed parent; for the pollen parent, any of the wide-faced newer hybrids. Try a cross between tiny S. pusilla and white-flowered S. eumorpha.

Use the pink slipper as one parent, a large white-margined pink hybrid as the other. Or work for all-pink hybrids by using the pink slipper and a deep rose self from the large-faced hybrids. If you favor dotted types, try a pink slipper and a pink-dotted tigrina.

Commercial seed houses pay up to $400.00 an ounce for gloxinia seed. To command so good a price, your seed must be of top quality; in a wide range of colors; specialty seeds from unique crosses, or species seed. To interest firms in your merchandise, take 35 mm. slides of your gloxinias while they are flowering, include a slide with each inquiry, and do not expect it to be returned. These firms are too busy to attend to the remailing.

If you grow but a few thousand seeds you may want to sell them as I do: hybrid slipper seeds to individuals for $5.00 per hundred; to wholesale firms for $12.50 per thousand.

Create your own garden retreat.

Create your own garden retreat.

You should arrange at least some part of your limited garden to provide an area where you can rest and think, a peaceful observation point. I prefer a natural "planted" space instead of the old-fashioned gazebo garden-house structure. Though we all want some gay flowers and brilliant sunshine, we also need the seclusion of a quiet area, a cool reflective private spot. Here you will almost taste the freshness of the air you breathe. You can listen to the mourning doves, and the phoebe—the wind rustling the maple leaves. Smell the warm dry scent of summer, the fragrance of the lilac drifting on the breeze.

Our own private retreat is a cool shady spot—a hillside above the brook. A hillside and a brook are, of course, not essential. They just happened to be there for us.

Bulldozed level, this terrace hideaway is twenty feet long and fourteen wide. Two spreading maples provide shade. We made a small retaining wall about two stones high (three in some places) to hold back the bank on one side, and hold the land up on the other side. A rope hammock is attached at one end to a cedar post, set for the purpose, and at the other end to one of the maples.

Bird and Worm`s Eye View

When you are in the hammock you are sometimes beneath the world and sometimes above it—depending on which side of the hammock you look from. Out one side you look up at the curve of the meadow. The land lies above, and you beneath. Out the other side you are in the greenery of tree tops looking down through leaves to the brook with a totally different perspective. This is, to our way of thinking, a pretty neat trick and it makes the hammock an ever-fascinating place to be.

The terrace-retreat itself is shady, but beyond the limbs of the maples the sun shines. Japanese iris grows in the sun fringing the area where we sit; so does Jacob's ladder, blooming from May on into July, the violet flowers touched with white, and each stalk of delightful foliage a small green ladder.

On the other side of the terrace a stretch of Dutchman's breeches spills down a steep rocky bank to the brook edge. The blossoms greet us in late April when the first days of the hammock begin. A pink and a white dogwood add to the shade and beauty. Lilies-of-the-valley (especially for fragrance) cluster beneath; foam flower parades in soft white along the bank; gold thread peeks from the leaves; jack-in-the-pulpit rises in dignity in the lea of the wall; white trillium, bloodroot, and red and yellow wild columbine bloom in succession; blue forget-me-nots and cardinal flowers thrive at the brook's edge; Virginia bluebells nod their bell-like flowers flanking the terrace up and down the hillside, and maidenhair, cinnamon, and royal ferns grace the area.

Though no pines stand in the vicinity, pine needles cover the terrace floor, for we have access to a fine source of them. Each spring we spread a carpet of fresh and fragrant needles gathered in two old bedspreads dumped in the back of the car and carted home. They contribute a pungent scent, a rich brownness, and a pleasant four-inch-deep rug, soft and resilient to walk upon.

A Place To Call Your Own

Haven't you some small area of your garden, a remote corner with no sun, an area of trees, a thicket perhaps, even a shady spot where growing things has been difficult? If so, with some pruning, replanning, and possibly additional planting you can create an ideal retreat complete with hammock, simple comfortable outdoor furniture, and possibly a few old stumps of special character. The area can be large or small—really tiny —and still achieve its purpose, still become an inviting spot to while away an hour or a day, a place dedicated not to doing, but to the simple art of being.

Our shady retreat has given us the opportunity to grow some of the loveliest of plants, ferns, some evergreens, certain shrubs, and many flowers. Most shade-loving plants need no special care after they are established.

Mountain laurel is a grand broad-leaved evergreen for the secluded shady area. It wants sandy, peaty soil, always acid (no lime). Rhododendron is another fine flowering evergreen. When you look out the window in winter, rhododendron tells you the temperature. When you see the leaves curled like cigars, it is very, very cold and you had better put on that extra sweater.

Moist & Acid

Azaleas in shades of crimson, pink, flame, white and yellow are especially successful in a woodland setting. Some are fragrant. The plants grow from two to ten feet tall. Acid soil and oak leaf mulch are beneficial. The white fragrant blooms of the swamp azalea open in July, later than the others. It does not need its feet in a swamp to thrive, but do give it shade and rich leaf mold soil.

Other favorite plants for shade are crested iris, countless varieties of native wild violets, and myrtle or periwinkle (Vinca minor). Bleeding heart (the tall variety) and begonias (especially tuberous) add loveliness. Blue phlox is lavender-colored with a meadow scent. Spiderwort has white and blue flowers and spidery gray-green leaves. Each bloom lasts only for a day, but many flowers continually come. Japanese anemone bears sturdy rose-colored blossoms. Mist-flower unfolds furry blue-violet blossoms in autumn, and spreads marvellously.

This shady area provides a splendid summering place for many of the houseplants which will also add a decorative note. Tuberous begonias in tubs will be lovely, and if by chance you are orchid raisers, as we are, here is the dream spot for the orchids to summer. They like morning or afternoon sun, so we hang ours (using cut up re-shaped old wire coat hangers) in the trees at the edges of the area, and set some on the retaining walls where they get sun until about eleven in the morning and again after four in the afternoon.

Rose Gardening in Spring

Rose Gardening in Spring

If you live in an area where you can start seeing the promise of spring in late March or early April, then you're an "early spring" rose gardener. However, if you live where March and April bring the season's best skiing, then just keep waiting out old man winter until your turn at spring arrives and then follow the tips in this article.

Early spring is a time of great activity in the rose garden as you prepare for the beautiful buds that will be sprouting almost any day. Here's a summary of what needs to be done in order to prepare your roses for the tough growing season that lies ahead.

If you covered your roses with dirt or other protective winter coverings, your first step is to gently remove the protective materials so you can introduce your dormant bushes to the warming spring sun and gentle rains that lie ahead.

Before beginning your spring pruning activities, cut back any dead and damaged canes that did not survive the winter. Be sure to clear away any debris and residue from around the bushes as well.

Prepare the soil to nurture your plants by adding some organic compounds. You can either buy pre-packaged organics from your favorite garden supplier, or you can mix up your own recipe using composted manure or mushroom compost, or any of the usual meal blends which can include alfalfa, cottonseed, fish or blood meal.

Work your soil with a spade or other tool if it has become too compacted during the winter or if you notice standing water after watering your plants. Roses require well-drained soil to thrive.

After soil preparation is done you can plant any new additions to your garden including container-grown roses.

Next it is time to begin your fungicide spraying regiment either immediately or, if you prefer to wait, approximately 14 days after you complete your pruning.  Opinions on the best time differ. The choice is yours.

Remember to rotate through different fungicides during the year to prevent any fungi from becoming immune to any one product.

Don't use any pesticides unless you see evidence of damage, but remember to keep a sharp eye out for aphids which are as much a sign of spring as April showers are. Hit them with a blast of water to remove them, or apply insecticide in a mister to the affected areas.

Imagine how hungry you'd be if you just woke up from a long winter hibernation! Well, your Roses are hungry too. The best way to coax any type of roses from dormancy to budding is to feed their little bellies now and every other week through the remainder of the growing season. Water well after feeding!

There! Your rose garden is ready for spring, but your work is far from over. If spring is near then summer can't be far behind.

Popular flower bulbs

Popular flower bulbs

Bulbs are among the most attractive, and easiest to care for, flowers in the garden. A bulb garden in full bloom can be a wonderful, attractive sight for any gardener.

Another great thing about bulbs is the sheer variety in which they come. There are bulb plants to satisfy virtually any taste, and bulb plants come in a staggering variety of colors, sizes, shapes and textures.

Even within bulb families, there is quite a bit of variety. The humble tulip, for instance, boasts a variety of different shaped blooms, from the traditional bell shaped to a number of more exotic varieties. With all these varieties to choose from, finding just the right bulbs for your garden can be difficult. We are, therefore, providing this guide to popular bulb flowers, including their optimum growing conditions.

Crocus

Bulb Type: Corm

Sunlight: Full sun or partial shade

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

Dahlia

Bulb Type: Tuberous Root

Sunlight: Full sun; partial shade in hot climates

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

Galanthus (Snowdrop)

Bulb Type: True Bulb

Sunlight: Full sun or partial shade

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

Gladiolus

Bulb Type: Corm

Sunlight: Full sun

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

Hererocallis (Daylily)

Bulb Type: Tuberous Root

Sunlight: Full sun or light shade

Water: Regular watering during growing season

Hyacinthus (Dutch Hyacinth)

Bulb Type: True Bulb

Sunlight: Full sun

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

Iris

Bulb Type: Rhizome

Sunlight: Full sun or light shade

Water: Regular watering during growing season

Lilium (Asiatic and Oriental Hybrid Lilies)

Bulb Type: True Bulb

Sunlight: Full sun or partial shade

Water: Regular watering is required. The root zone must never be allowed to dry out.

Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)

Bulb Type: True Bulb

Sunlight: Full sun or light shade

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

Narcissus (Daffodil, Narcissus)

Bulb Type: True Bulb

Sunlight: Full sun

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

Tulipa (Tulip)

Bulb Type: True Bulb

Sunlight: Full sun

Water: Regular watering during growth and bloom periods

No matter what types of bulb flowers you choose to plant, if you follow the instructions carefully and give them the growing conditions they need to thrive, you will be rewarded with many seasons of beautiful blooms from these spectacular plants. A garden wouldn't really be a garden without the use of flower bulbs, not to mention that gardening itself would not be as pleasurable.

The versatility of roses

The versatility of roses

Roses have long been a favorite among all types of gardeners, and roses continue to enjoy great popularity today. In addition to their beauty as cut flowers and in bouquets, roses are among the most useful and attractive flowers to grace the landscape of any home.

As a matter of fact, the exterior of any home can be made more graceful and more inviting through the use of wonderful landscape roses. Choosing the right ones, and ensuring that they compliment the overall style of the home, is very important to the overall success of the landscape.

Fortunately, the number of ornamental landscape roses make finding them an easy task. The difficulty consists of choosing the right ones from this variety. There are a number of classes of roses whose characteristics make them great for use as landscape ornamentals. For instance, the gardener who wants to grow roses up and over an archway or a trellis may want to use tall growing tea roses. Tea roses are renowned for their nodding blooms, therefore all who pass under the arch would be treated to the beautiful sight of roses in full bloom.

To accent a wall or other permanent structure, a true climbing rose is often the best choice. True climbing roses can be trained to many different effects, including climbing up the length of the structure, or accenting the tops and sides of a wall or building.

The Polyantha or modern day Floribunda rose is a great choice for gardeners looking for a vibrant splash of color for the background. These popular varieties of roses have large sprays of blooms, and they are popular choices for providing color in the landscape.

If roses are to be planted in front of other plants in the landscape, miniature or low growing China roses are a perfect choice. Roses can even be used as hedges, with modern Shrub roses and Rugosa roses being excellent choices.

Of course, as with any aspect of gardening, color is an important consideration. After all, every gardener’s goal is a garden full of colorful, vibrant and healthy plants. Fortunately,  there so many rose types in so many shapes, sizes, textures and colors that there truly is a rose for every gardener.

The goal of choosing the best color roses for the landscape should be to compliment the color of the surrounding landscape. For instance, a spray of plain white tea roses can be striking against a dark red brick home, or an arrangement of pink roses can be the perfect compliment to a stone or marble entranceway. With so many colors of roses to choose from, it should be easy to find colors that compliment and enhance any decorating scheme.

One popular trend in the world of landscaping is to use a variety of different plants and flowers in the landscape. Whereas single species landscaping was in vogue a few years ago, most of today’s gardeners like to use a mix of different colors, species and styles of plants. Doing so not only makes for a vibrant garden, but it is thought to enhance the health of the soil as well.

Fortunately, roses lend themselves well to this mixture, and roses can be a beautiful part of an overall landscape of plants and flowers. In addition, there are roses suitable for a variety of climates. Choosing the best rose types for your specific climate should mean fewer pesticides, few disease issues and an overall healthier garden.

Types of roses suitable for potting.

Types of roses suitable for potting.

It wasn't too long ago that no serious rosarian would even consider having a potted rose on their property except for, maybe, last minute emergencies where they had run out of space but couldn't resist buying just one more plant.

Times have changed and potted roses have a place in the lives of condo and apartment dwellers, city slickers who live in areas where there isn't a tree in sight, and anyone who has a spot on their lawn or garden in need of the beauty that only a rose can deliver.

Not all rose types are good candidates for growing in pots. The following varieties have been found to do best. Feel free to try any variety that you want, even climbers, and see how they make out.

All that Jazz

Ballerina

Blush Noisette

Bonica

Cecile Brunner

Clotilde Soupert

Green Rose

Gruss an Aachen

Hannah Gordon

Hermosa

Katharina Zeimet

Mrs. Oakley Fisher

Peace

Perfume Delight

Precious Platinum

Sea Foam

Sexy Rexy

Souvenir de la Malmaison

Stanwell Perpetual

The Fairy

Valentine

Whiskey Mac

Planting potted roses is a relatively easy task as long as you do your planting in the spring after any chance of a frost is long past. If you live in a warm climate zone, then hold off planting until autumn when the ravages of July and August are far behind.

When you're ready to plant, choose an appropriate sized container with drainage holes. Make sure that the container has enough room for your plant to grow without having to transplant frequently.

Fill the container with garden soil that has some compost or organic fertilizer mixed in.

Dig a hole that's a bit bigger than the root ball, knock the rose loose from its shipping container, and plant it.

Dig a shallow trench or moat around the base of the plant to hold water, and water well.

Potted roses are susceptible to the same diseases as garden roses are, and they require feeding, pruning and all of the other rose care basics. Potted roses aren't less work or responsibility; they are simply more space-saving than a regular rose garden. Don't treat your roses as if they were ordinary potted plants or you will lose them.

People are constantly asking if they can grow potted plants indoors. The answer is: "Maybe, but it's a risky proposition." That's because roses need high humidity and a lot of direct sunlight. High humidity conditions do not usually exist inside of most air-conditioned homes. However, if you live in a hot, steamy area, and you don't have air conditioning, then you can probably get away with it as long as you pick a sunny spot.

Of all the rose varieties that are likely to survive indoors, miniature roses are your best bet. Miniature roses are actual roses that have been bred to grow into small and compact plants with equally small flowers. They do very well in pots and are quite beautiful.

If you're willing, go ahead and experiment. You've really got nothing to lose and you just might discover a whole new aspect of rose gardening!

The Different Rose Types Classifications

The Different Rose Types Classifications

Although there is no one set of "official" classification system of roses, there are many different popular rose classification schemes that are employed throughout the world. The most popular of the systems in use has been proposed by The American Rose Society in cooperation with the World Federation of Roses. Although this classification system is not the only one in use, a large majority of internationally established societies have adopted this scheme for classifying roses.

According to the American Rose Society, there are three main groupings of roses: the Species; Old Garden Roses; and Modern Roses. Species Roses, the origin of every other rose class, are commonly referred to as "wild roses." These "wild roses" are easy to identify, as they normally have five petals, are once-blooming, and are generally thorny shrubs or climbers. Several popular Species Roses include: Cherokee Roses, Dog Roses, Gallic Roses, French Roses, and Redleaf Roses. Species Roses can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, as they flourish in temperate climates.

Unlike Species Roses, which existed millions of years before man walked the earth, Old Garden Roses are identified as a major class of roses recognized before 1867.

Most Old Garden Roses bloom once per season, usually at the arrival of summer. Old Garden Roses occur in a variety of shrub and vine sizes. Although colors vary, Old Garden Roses are typically white or pastel in color. These rose types are generally preferred for lawns and home gardening because they are easy to care for. Several groupings of roses are classified as Old Garden Roses including: China, Tea, Moss, Damask, Bourbon, Hybrid Perpetual and Noisette roses. Many "antique roses" have a strong sweet scent, which makes them very desirable.

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. Any rose which has been identified post 1867 is considered a Modern Rose. This group of roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of cross breeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus. The colors of a Modern Rose are lovely, rich and vibrant. Most of the roses found in this class flower repeatedly when cared for properly. Perhaps that is why horticulturists find this class so attractive. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the hybrid tea, floribunda, and grandiflora. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do not adapt well to colder environments.

After a rose type has been classified according to the three main groupings, a rose can then be further classified by color, scent, growth habit, ancestry, date of introduction, blooming characteristics and size. It is very difficult for horticulturists to classify every rose, especially the hybrid roses which often seem like a grouping of their own. While there has been much debate on classifying the different types of  roses, the American Rose Society appears to have the most functional system for these stages of classification. Perhaps this is why the American Rose Society's classification system has been adopted by so many rosarians the world over.

Autumn rose care

Autumn rose care

September and October are your rose's finest hour. If you have faithfully followed our suggestions up to this point, you should start to see full, colorful, magnificent blooms as your reward.

Your work isn't quite through yet, however. While fall is the best growing time, you also need to start thinking about the coming winter months.

Your rose bushes are working hard to produce blooms which will delight you and make you proud. They need a lot of water to fuel the process. Continue watering deeply and do it as often as is needed to maintain growth.  If you are going to be showing your rose blooms then watering daily is fine as long as you do not use too much.

Keep applying water-soluble fertilizers until the end of September, and don't be afraid to use some of the commercially available bloom-boosting fertilizers. You can recognize these because they will have a large number in the middle of their formulation. Stop all fertilizing activity at the end of October so your bushes will be able to begin the journey into hibernation.

Conditions are still good for blackspot and mildew to form, so continue with your spraying program right through the end of October.

You can cut roses for bouquets through the end of October without harming the bush. If you want to let rose hips form, then just remove the petals of your spent roses.

This is also a great time to start planning next year's garden, so visit the web and start ordering catalogs to read throughout the winter. Order your new roses early while the best selections of the different rose types are available. Rose growers know the best time to ship your new bushes according to your climate zone. Always verify the details of the shipment with your supplier.

Old Garden Roses Are A Timeless Beauty

Old Garden Roses Are A Timeless Beauty

Old Garden Roses are any of the rose varieties that were recognized and celebrated prior to 1867, the year in which the first modern flower was introduced. The name of this flower is the hybrid tea. The major classes of Old Garden Roses include: bourbons, noisettes, portlands, species, centifolias, albas, chinas, damasks, hybrid perpetuals, moss roses, gallicas, and teas. Although some of these roses are native to the United States, the majority are from Europe and Asia. The roses that are often referred to as "Old Fashioned," or "Antique Roses," have actually served as the predecessors to some of the most beautiful modern hybrids.

Unlike Modern Roses, which are applauded for their vibrant colors, compact buds, and recurrent blooming, 'Old Fashioned' Roses are usually pastel in color and are single blooming. Their much-anticipated annual blooms have come to symbolize the arrival of summer.

These flowers are true survivors. Most Old Garden Roses are hardy even in some of the coldest and poorest weather conditions. It's as if they can withstand anything. Their versatility can rarely be matched by other classes of roses. Despite their durability and strength, these roses flourish best when planted in a favorable situation. The roses require a minimum of six hours in direct sunlight on a daily basis. The ideal location for your Old Garden Roses is an open area, away from shade-producing trees. The soil in this area should be well-drained and fertilized prior to planting.

While many people ignore the fertilization process, soil preparation is a very important element in growing healthy beautiful roses. You should add a large quantity of organic material such as manure to the flower bed prior to planting. The fertilizer will enrich the soil and aid in water drainage. It's highly recommended that you prepare your garden several months in advance to allow the nutrients to settle. Your Old Garden Roses will prosper in this rich environment.

Once your flower bed is prepared, you're ready to begin planting your roses. Although it's a little dirty, it's a very easy task. Dig a hole about eight inches deep. Remove the plant from its plastic pot. Carefully untangle any loose roots and place the plant directly into the hole. Fill any remaining space with loose soil. You won't need any soil additives at this time. Just be sure to saturate the ground with water. Your new plant will require water on a daily basis for three weeks. If the ground looks like it's very dry, give your plant a quick shower.

Although many people don't like the appearance of mulch, it can truly be a gardener's best friend. Mulch really helps to repel weeds. It's also great for holding moisture, which encourages your flowers to bloom radiantly in the summer months. Don't worry about diseases unless you see strange spots on the foliage. Although Old Garden Roses have been known to be disease resistant, it doesn't mean they're 100% disease-free. However, it's very rare that a disease will debilitate these plants. They're extremely tough and very self-maintaining.

If you're looking for something new to plant in your rose garden, select any of the Old Garden Rose types. The blooms and fragrances will please your senses and are the reasons why these roses have withstood the test of time.

Miniature Roses are under rated!

Miniature Roses are under rated!

Whether you're planting miniature roses indoors or out, they are very easy to grow. Although these little guys have often been frowned upon because they give off little or no fragrance, they're the perfect accent to any home or garden. Miniature roses are practically maintenance-free. Just give them a "bath" once a week and they'll last forever.

There's a common misconception about miniature roses. When people hear the term "miniature," they assume these roses will make a perfect houseplant. Prior to moving your roses indoors, consider that miniature roses can grow up to four feet in height. This large house plant will undoubtedly need an ample source of light. The micro-mini roses however, only grow to approximately five inches in height and are just as easy to maintain. If you're still determined to keep your miniature roses indoors, there are several tips that will make caring for your roses a simple task.

Place your plant in direct sunlight. These flowers flourish in the sunniest windows of your home. If the stems of your miniature roses appear to stretch out, leaving wide gaps between the leaves, your rose is not getting enough light. You should either move the plant to a new location or provide supplemental light. Make sure to bathe your plant on a weekly basis. Spraying your plant will reduce the risk of a spider-mite attack. Gently mist the top and underside of the leaves. The spray will remove dust. Make sure that your plant looks comfortable in its pot. If the pot is too small, the plant will be cramped. If the pot is too large, your roses will be reluctant to grow.

Outdoors, most miniature rose types bloom from spring until the winter season. If you cover your plant with mulch, it will have a good chance of surviving frost and the coldest winters. You can plant your roses directly into the ground, a hanging basket, or in an 8 - 10 inch pot. Make sure your plant isn't shaded by large trees or anything that will cast a shadow. These little plants love direct sunlight.

If you choose to plant your roses directly into the ground, dig a good hole about one foot in depth and width. Take your rose out of its pot and gently untangle any loose roots. Place the roots down into the hole. Take loose soil and refill the hole so that your miniature roses are planted levelly. Water your plant thoroughly. These same rules apply to potting your plant.

Don't let the soil dry out. The first three weeks are crucial to any plant's health. Water your new plant every day for three weeks. These types of roses do enjoy their water! However, after the three-week period is over, your goal is to keep your soil moist. Check the soil on a daily basis. If it feels dry, give your plant a little water.

Miniature roses will look great in your living room or along the edges of your flower beds or anywhere your home needs a little burst of color.

Watch out for Blackspot on your roses!

Watch out for Blackspot on your roses.

Blackspot is a prevalent rose disease that is caused by the fungus Diplocarpon rosae. Should your rose bushes develop the telltale signs of Blackspot, remedial measures must be taken immediately. Otherwise, the bush will begin producing fewer blooms and the rose's ability to survive the winter months will be jeopardized.

Blackspot is easy to recognize in its latter stages, but might not be noticeable in the beginning. In fact, by the time blackspot starts showing signs, as few as 3 to as many as 10 days have already passed since the fungus first germinated. The first visible symptom is black-colored spots on the leaves. As the disease progresses, a yellow ring forms around the black spots and the spots spread through to the underside of the leaves. Spore-producing spots will be visible upon close examination. The black spots will continue to grow and soon the entire leaf may turn yellow. Many of the yellowed leaves will begin falling off the bush.

Blackspot is a fungus and as such, it spreads. It'll easily jump from one rose type to another for as long as it's left untreated. The fungus can survive on the fallen leaves through the winter, and also on the cane where it has been infected so growers cannot rely on the harsher weather to kill it.

Like most fungi, Blackspot thrives in warm, moist environments. Spores will germinate after 7 hours of being wet and when the ambient temperature is between 65 F (18 C) and 75 F (24 C). The warmer the weather, the quicker the disease spreads.

Proper care of your roses is the only way to prevent this disease from developing or spreading. Since spores can survive on fallen leaves, it's crucial during the fall season to rake up and remove all dead leaves from the ground and cut away any infected canes. In the spring, when roses are still dormant, head to the nursery and purchase wettable sulphur and a soap containing fungicide and then spray all rose bushes thoroughly with both. The spores cannot adhere to the sulphur, so the leaves are protected whenever they're covered. Because the sulphur will wash off in rain it's important to reapply whenever necessary.

The fungus needs a wet environment for germination, so take extra care to keep the leaves moisture-free. For example, plant roses in sunny locations as opposed to shady places so that the morning dew evaporates more quickly. Use sprinkler hoses when watering so that only the roots get watered and not the leaves. Water early in the day, so there's plenty of time for water to evaporate. Prune the bushes regularly so that air can flow freely among the leaves and be sure to allow plenty of space between your roses for the same reason.

When roses exhibit symptoms of Blackspot, first cut away affected parts and throw clippings in the trash, not the compost pile (remember the fungus on leaves won't die). Then spray all the leaves with sulphur.

If given a bit of tender loving care, your roses will produce beautiful flowers year after year!

Hybrid Tea Rose – For Classic Elegance

Hybrid Tea Rose – For Classic Elegance

A modern rose type, the Hybrid Tea Rose is the result of two old timers getting together: the Hybrid Perpetual and the Tea Rose. These gorgeous modern flowers grow on large stems and bloom throughout the year. Although this rose only gives off a faint scent, it makes up for this shortcoming with its many petals and tall stature. The Hybrid Tea Rose is commonly referred to as "your basic rose on a stick." These roses are the most popular roses to give or receive on special occasions.

A Hybrid Tea will look fabulous in any garden. Gardeners should plant them in rows by themselves. It's much easier to tend to them this way. Be sure to keep this area weed-free. These roses, like most flowers, do not take well to weeds. You should space your flowers approximately twenty-four inches apart from one another. This will ensure a good growth habit. If you're up for the challenge of growing hybrid tea roses, plant them this spring and start a tradition.

Many gardeners steer clear of the Hybrid Tea Rose because they're turned off by the idea of thorns. Well, the wonderful thing about this flower is that there are actually several thornless varieties! When you're shopping for these flowers, look for tags that read 'smooth' on the label. This, of course, implies that the rose is thorn-free. You can find these flowers in every color, with the exception of blue.

These types of roses require plenty of water during hot weather, especially if the hot weather is accompanied by dryness. Although most gardens require a good soaking every two weeks, other gardens require a weekly soaking. Regardless of the schedule, if the ground looks very dry and cracked, you should water your flowers. Placing mulch around your roses is a very good idea. The mulch will help prevent weeds and conserve moisture.

The Hybrid Tea Rose will most likely reach its full height after approximately three years. Even after pruning, the flower will grow back to this height annually. Most modern roses, such as the hybrid tea, live a span of six or seven years, and longer if the flower has been given exceptional care. It's important that your roses are given sun. Roses require a minimum of six hours of sun a day. Morning sun is essential to a rose's proper growth. The morning sun will dry up excess moisture and dew, which will help prevent diseases from developing.

In February, when your flowers are dormant, you'll want to prune your roses. Your first step will be to remove dead branches and damaged canes. In colder climates, you'll most likely have to cut all the old damaged wood. Look for lively green canes. Those are the canes that will produce buds in the spring. In warmer areas, remove any existing leaves from the plant, as this will promote new growth. Lastly, remove any debris from your garden. Now you're ready for spring. As spring approaches and your roses begin to grow, you should fertilize your home garden with a high-nitrogen fertilizer.

Choosing the right types of roses

Choosing the right types of roses

There's an enormous selection of roses that you can grow in your home garden. With such a large selection to choose from, your decision may seem more like a difficult task than the fun that it should be. In order to make this process easier, there are a few important factors that you should consider prior to choosing your roses.

Color

How will the color of your roses effect your garden? Look at different catalogs, as well as your neighbors' gardens, to get an idea of the colors you like best.

While the color of your roses might not seem very significant, you should consider the colors of other plants and flowers that your roses will share the garden with. Will the assortment of colors look nice, or will they clash?  For some, color-arrangement is a priority; while for others, it's no big deal.

Size

In addition to color, the size of the roses you choose is very important. Consider the height of your roses at full-growth. If the roses grow fifteen feet in height, will they look unattractive in your garden? Remember, the size of roses vary. While some roses may grow up until eight feet, other can grow up to twenty feet in height.

Measure the area of your garden prior to choosing the roses you want to plant. Compare your width and height measurements with roses you're looking to purchase. Your roses should have an ample amount of space to grow as well as plenty of exposure to the air. If you only have a small amount of space to dedicate to roses, you may want to consider growing miniature roses. These roses do not take up a lot of space and are easy to plant and care for.

Climate

Although height is an important factor in your rose garden planning, choosing the right roses for your particular climate zone is just as important. In order for your roses to grow healthy and mature, they have to be adjusted to your climate. For example, if you live in an area where it snows six months out of the year, you'll want to make sure you purchase roses that can withstand cold temperatures.

Maintenance

How much time are you willing to spend maintaining your roses? Do you live to be in the garden, or are you more of a low-maintenance type? There are several types of roses which are very high-maintenance. Although they will look beautiful in your garden, they will require a lot of your time. The classification known as "Modern Roses" are very beautiful, long blooming, and highly fragrant, however these rose types are very high maintenance and are prone to disease.

The rose classification known as "Old Garden Roses", on the other hand, have been bred to be very disease-resistant and require less maintenance. "Old Garden Roses" blooms for several months at a time, and have a strong and beautiful scent. The bad news is that people with strong allergies to fragrances will have a terrible time around them. If that seems like it will be a problem for you then consider any of the variety known as "shrub roses". They are also disease-resistant and long blooming, but do not produce as strong a scent.

If you're new to gardening and want to try your hand at growing roses, landscape roses may be your best option. These roses are easy to care for and disease-resistant. They'll look stunning just about anywhere. If your garden has trellises, you can add several climbing roses as well. Although climbing roses look very similar to landscape roses, climbing roses have been trained to grow upward like vines. This type of rose is a beautiful touch to any home.

All About Floribunda Roses

All About Floribunda Roses

The name 'Floribunda' is of Latin origin and means "many flowered" or "abundance of flowers" and this variety of rose certainly lives up to its name. These roses have been described as some of the most colorful of the modern rose types. Typically, their flowers are arranged in low-growing large clusters. The Floribunda rose is the result of crossbreeding a Hybrid Tea and a Polyantha in the 1920's. The Floribunda is considered by many to be a better breed than the Hybrid Tea because of its capacity to produce many blooms over an extended period of time. Many people grow them for display rather than to use as cutting-flowers. They're a beautiful landscape plant that can produce an abundance of color season after season.

Floribunda rose types, much like their ancestors, come in a large assortment of colors and styles. The difference is, however, that these flowers are much more vigorous and hardy than Hybrid Tea roses. Generally, Floribunda plants can grow up to four feet tall. A notable plant of similar size that has become increasingly popular over the last few years is the Rob Roy. Its roses, which offer a sweet soft scent, bloom in a deep red color. The flowers will bloom continually from spring until late fall provided there aren't any severe frosts. They're extremely bold in mass planting.

Prior to planting your roses, you should pick a garden location and get your soil prepared. Add a nice compost of manure or other organic matter to your soil. It's worth mentioning that active blooming roses flourish in a few inches of organic mulch. It's also suggested that you plant your flowers 18 - 24 inches apart from one another. You want to provide ample space for them to grow.

Dig a hole that will be deep enough for roots to spread without any restriction; about 8 - 10 inches deep is fine. If you wish, you can add bone-meal to the soil, as it is high in phosphates. Now you're ready to plant. Remove your plant from its plastic container and gently place it into the ground. Backfill the hole with loose soil and then pack any loose soil firmly with your palm. Repeat this process for every plant. When you're finished, water your new plants thoroughly. For the first couple of weeks, you should water your new roses on a daily basis. After that, a weekly irrigation should be sufficient.

Basic pruning should be done in late winter months. Most gardeners choose January or February, depending on their climate. Remove all debris and dead foliage from the plants and their flower bed surroundings. Snip any dead bark-like canes. Old flowers must be removed in order to promote new growth for the coming season.

Although you should try to maintain some shape to your roses, be gentle with the cuts. It's been noted by many horticulturists that Floribundas under one year of age flourish with a cane length of 6 inches. If it's warm enough you'll want to fertilize the ground during this time. Add organic matter to your soil and watch your flowers bloom beautifully in the months to come.

The Most Common Types Of Rose Diseases

The Most Common Types Of Rose Diseases

There's nothing worse than seeing all of your hard work destroyed by a rose disease or fungus. Roses can be weakened during the winter dormancy and become more susceptible to disease when the growing season begins.

Even if the bush survived winter unscathed, spring rains and summer's heat and humidity can open the door to a variety of fungus infections.

Here is a summary of the most common diseases which could pose a threat to your roses.

Powdery Mildew

This is a fungus disease that produces a white powder along the tops and bottoms of the leaves and along the stems. Left untreated the plant will not grow to its full potential and the leaves will die and drop off.

Rust

Rust looks like an orange powder which appears on the underside of leaves and will spread to other parts of the plant.

Blackspot

Hybrid tea type roses are blackspot resistant, but many other varieties are susceptible.  The disease appears as circular black spots on the plant's leaves which range between 1/16 to 1/2 inch in diameter. Left untreated, blackspot will destroy your plant's foliage.

Rose Mosaic

Unlike most rose diseases, which are fungal in nature, Rose Mosaic is caused by a virus. Symptoms generally resemble discolored mosaic patterns and yellow and green.

The only treatment is to remove the infected plant from the garden. Make sure that you also remove all leaves and clippings which fall from the affected plant.

If you are unable to stop the spread of fungus-based diseases by simply cutting back the affected areas, see you garden supply professional and ask about commercial fungus treatment products.

You can reduce the chances of your roses being affected by fungus if you follow these tips:

Always water the soil around the rose plant and never water the plant itself.

Clean your rose beds regularly and remove all clippings and fallen leaves.

Cut any diseased canes or blooms and dispose of them in your trash can.

Practice regular pruning and pay special attention to pruning out the center of the bushes to allow air to circulate.

Seal all cuts. Elmer's Glue works fine. It's safe, effective and inexpensive.

Feed your roses regularly. Wee-fed roses are better able to resist infection.

Choose disease-resistant rose types whenever possible, especially if you live in areas with high heat and humidity. Remember that disease-resistant does not mean disease-free. It simply means that there is a less likely chance of the plant becoming infected if you follow all of the tips that you read here.

Rose Gardening and the climate zones

Rose Gardening and the climate zones

If you want to be the proud owner of a bountiful garden this year, the first thing you need to find out is which climate zone you live in. It's helpful to know that your town gets a lot of sunshine throughout the year, but that's not enough. It's actually the cold temperatures that make a difference in what you can and cannot grow in your area.

Know Your Zone

Anyone who knows anything about gardening will tell you that the most reliable source of this type of climate information is the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Consisting of 11 different climate zones covering all 50 states, Canada and Mexico, this map will help you determine what you can plant in your garden.

When you purchase plants, they'll come with a set of growing instructions that'll describe the growing conditions the plants need to thrive. It doesn't matter whether you plan to plant vegetables, flowers or plants to use as landscaping. Don't purchase anything until you've checked the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map and confirmed your climate zone.

The map is quite large and very colorful. Its creation was a joint collaboration of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Arnold Arboretum (of Harvard University). The map is a compilation of years of weather data that tracked the average low (coldest) temperatures in various regions throughout the United States. Each of the different colors represents a different climate zone with Zone 1 being the region with the lowest (coldest) temperature. There, temperatures climb as low as -50 F (-45 C). At the opposite end of the zone chart is Zone 11, where the lowest temperature any time of year is always above 40 F (4 C).

The boundaries between the different climate zones for the most part lie as you would expect, with the colder zones covering the northernmost parts of North America and gradually warming the further south you go. Slight variations can be seen at points of higher elevation, again, as would be expected.

It's easy to figure out your area's climate zone. If you're online, locate a website with the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map and then click where you live (get as close as you can). The map will zoom in on your region and inform you of the corresponding zone. Then you'll know!

Why the Map is Important to Rose Gardening

Roses really aren't as difficult to grow as most people think. They do require regular care and maintenance, but the number one thing roses need is an appropriate climate in which to grow. There are many varieties of roses and some are hardier than others, making them better able to handle colder climate zones provided they've been given the proper seasonal preparations. If you live in a colder hardiness zone (a lower-numbered zone) you'd want to look for roses that are bred for that zone, otherwise, you might find that those same rose types that looked so perfect in the nursery don't look so healthy in your garden!