You love roses. Visions of bountiful blooms carpeting your garden with color and fragrance dance in your head as you swoon over the catalogs brimming with all too many choices. You want lots and lots of flowers, but you’re limited in space. You’ve already taken over a good part of the lawn, and still, you […]
Maximize Your Bloom Read More »
Lavaglut, a German word for lava glow, comes from a well-known German family, Kordes. ‘Lavaglut’ was bred in 1978 and introduced to the market in 1979. This eye-catching floribunda is a cross of ‘Gruss an Bayern’ x Seedling. The glowing clusters of deep velvety red seem to continually erupt from a blanket of clean, glossy
Want to give your roses a slow deep watering, but aren’t ready for drip irrigation? A soaker hose might be the way to go. Most often made from recycled tires, the hoses’ rough surface contains millions of tiny pores that allows water to seep into the soil evenly and slowly. Available in a variety of
With severe restrictions on water usage, EVERY DROP counts! Be on the lookout for any drip or leak and find a way to eliminate it. Keeping your roses and other plants healthy, even with water restrictions, can be easier if you have the right tools for the job. Here are some small things that can
Shutoffs, quick-disconnects, timers, and washers can help you save water Read More »
My favorite colors are green and yellow, so what could be a more perfect combination than our Rose of the Month, ‘St. Patrick’? Although this presentation is a bit late for its namesakes’ holiday, still a lovely addition to any garden. I’ve grown this rose for several years and it presents lovely long-stemmed blooms, opening
We are lucky to be able to turn a faucet, flip a switch, or program a dial and get good quality water. At a cost. The price of water in Marin continues to increase, and with the tiered systems used by Marin water providers, the more you use the more it costs. More importantly, during
Water – Use It Wisely Read More »
One of the most beautiful romantic roses ever created is the Meilland rose, ‘Pierre de Ronsard’. France’s “prince of poets” was an avid gardener, and it was appropriate to commemorate him with a rose by his name. He was best known for his romantic sonnets. The city of Paris decided they would pay a tribute
Have you ever seen these critters in your rose garden? Or worse yet, do you have any of these symptoms that they’ve been there? Roses with petals that resemble Swiss cheese. Young buds and stems that have holes or are broken just below the bud. Meet the really bad guys of the rose garden –
Garden Bad Guys – Rose Curculios Read More »
It is often difficult for rosarians with limited space to plant a rose that blooms only once, especially if it gets rather large. In the case of ‘Complicata’ it is worth it! In The Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book, Thomas says of ‘Complicata’, “In the light sandy soil in my garden, in close competition with
I love April. A chickadee family has already moved into one of my birdhouses, there are daffodils, blossoming trees and birds singing everywhere. Now too, the roses have begun their season. Amazing to me that only weeks ago they looked like dead sticks and now they have the most beautiful shiny, lush green or red
Rose Care for April Read More »