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Understanding Garden Roses

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Written by Eric Johnstone

Sunday, 15 June 2008

by EricJohnstone

For many centuries garden roses have been on of the gardeners favorite plants. Way back, during the time of the Roman Empire, many of the gardens of southern Rome featured an abundance of roses. Throughout history famous gardens have often featured roses and, during the seventeenth century, at Chateau de Malmaison, near Paris, France, Napoleon's wife developed rather extensive rose gardens.

With such an old plant it is little wonder that roses have come to signify various meanings with different colors meaning vastly different things but most prominent has always been the romantic aspects of giving roses to a loved one. Every year, on Valentines day it would seem that virtually every male is almost obliged to buy his lover at least one red rose.

Roses are available in a massive range of colors and tones ranging from black to pure white. (black roses are actually not black at all, rather, they are the darkest shade of red possible). White roses may appear plain but they are one of the most useful colors available because white will go well with almost any other color available. If you create a border fully of roses you may find yourself overwhelmed by the shear choice available and while many opt to plant in one color others create fascinating contrasting color schemes.

With such a massive choice of rose color available the modern gardener is further spoilt for choice as there are also various distinctively different types of roses available today. Floribunda roses are incredibly popular and can be recognized by the fact that they will produce clusters of blooms. Hybrid Tea roses are rather different in that they only produce a single bloom per stem. Both Floribunda and Hybrid Tea types are amongst the most popular.

As an alternative to the usual HT and Floribunda types of rose you may be interested in the type known as "full standards". Full standard look as though they are small bushes on a pole and are often seen in containers on decking and patios. They are created by grafting around three strong stems onto one long stem of around 1m in height. The effect is dramatic and such flowers are highly suitable for use as a focal point, even in the smallest of yards.

Climbing roses are incredibly useful as they can be used in a multitude of different ways. The most common use is to train them to grow up garden furniture and structures such as walls and fences however you can also train them to grow up and around larger trees and shrubs to great effect. Climbers can also be grown in containers but they will need support.

Miniature roses are amongst the less common roses seen in the modern urban garden but they can be extremely useful. Growing to only 25-40cm miniatures are great for planting along the edge of borders and perfect plants to grow in small containers on the patio. Available in various colors such as red, yellow, white and lilac, miniatures are well worth the effort required to keep them in good condition.

If the brief introduction to garden roses above has led you to consider adding them to your garden then I would advise that you read a little more about them first. Caring for roses requires you to have specific knowledge. Of course it is possible to grow them without this knowledge but if you really want to get the best from your plant it really is worth the extra time and effort to learn exactly what is required to maintain a healthy and colorful bush.

About the Author:

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