Four Reasons to Use Containers

1. Not least of all the reasons to use a container for your roses is the fact that you can move pots and baskets and tubs and all sorts of containers around. Imagine hearing a sudden nearing hailstorm on the news and you suddenly worry for your roses. You won’t have time to protect them from the hail, but you have ample time to move them inside your garage or basement.
2. Tired of the same old look your garden has been donning for ages? Then it’s time to re-landscape your garden. And that is especially easy if you can carry your rose plants in one lift and transfer them to other places.
3. If gophers, moles, or other kinds of burrowing pests are disturbing the peace in what could have been good planting ground for your roses, then it is always better to pot a huge amount of soil and other organic materials where you can grow your roses rather than risk your beloved plant roots being eaten by those pesky creatures.
4. A tree is always a good thing, right? Wrong. Not especially if the tree grows too close to your roses and the roots are sucking away all the water and the nutrients in the soil, leaving nothing for your plants. You don’t want to fell the tree, either, especially if it isn’t yours in the first place. The solution? Leave the tree in peace and plant your roses in pots.

Are you convinced yet? If so, then let’s get started with learning the art of growing roses in pots. Actually, you can choose any kind of container, may it be a pot (It is the most common container used), tub, trough, hanging basket, barrel, or anything else you can think of. Here are five considerations for growing roses in containers.

The Container

As we’ve discussed above, there are many types of containers according to their form. We can also classify them according to the material of which they are made: wood, plastic, ceramic, clay, terra cotta, and even biodegradable fiber. The key to choosing the best container for your roses is finding out which is big enough for them and provides good soil drainage. Miniature roses, which are most commonly the ones potted, will have enough room to grow in 5-gallon pots, while larger floribundas, grandifloras, shrubs, and climbers need something as big as a 15-gallon pot. If you want to stay on budget, plastic pots are your best bet because they last longer than any of the other containers, retain water the most easily, and do not crack easily in cold weather.

The Soil

Prepare the container by layering the bottom with an inch of gravel or small rocks to serve as drainage and prevent the soil at the bottom from hardening. Then fill the pot with a third of potting soil, a third of high-quality garden compost, and a third of steer manure. Add one cup of bonemeal, perlite, fishmeal, and bloodmeal to increase the nutrients in the soil. When the soil is two-thirds up the container, it’s time to plant your roses and cover until the soil has reached the brim. It is important that it reaches the edge of the container because the soil becomes compacted over time.

Watering

Container roses drain easily, even if you are using plastic pots. Therefore, it is important that you water them more often than your plants grown on the ground. Water your roses the moment you plant them and make sure that you follow this up thoroughly afterwards. To see if your roses need watering again, simply dig your finger three inches deep into the soil. If it is dry, then water it; if it is wet, don’t.

Fertilizing

It is important that you feed your rose plants only when they are wet. Trust us—you don’t want to burn them all by fertilizing when dry. As they need more frequent watering, container roses also need more feeding. We do not recommend using a stronger solution, though. Feed them once a week during show season and two times every month after that with fish emulsion, Epsom salts, alfalfa pellets or a commercially available fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro or Grow More. 

Further Caring

You need to transfer the roses to another container every three years or so because the soil in your pots has, by then, accumulated insoluble salts from the fertilizers. To transfer, simply insert a knife into the sides of the pot to loosen up the soil. You also want to remember that even potted roses need a regular dose of pruning. Fortunately, if you are familiar with how to prune ground roses, then you wouldn’t have any problems with pruning potted ones.

If growing roses in pots is one of the next plans for your garden, then it’s a good thing you came across this article. Our aim is to show you a thorough outline on how to grow roses in containers. We have one request to make, though. Send some of your roses to friends—you don’t know how much a surprise present to remind your friends that you are thinking of them will make them happy. A potted rose makes an excellent gift.

It certainly isn’t easy growing roses from seed. Many gardeners, especially beginners, opt for grafting roses on unions instead. But while it may not be the fastest way to grow beautiful rose plants, it is still the most rewarding of all methods of growing roses. Once you decide to grow your own roses from seed, you are automatically submitting yourself to the difficulties that you will encounter along the way. Sure, a single rose hip contains several seeds from which you could possibly grow more than a dozen rose plants. But you should know that not all seeds are good enough to provide you with healthy roses that last long. So before taking on this effort-consuming task, it is best to understand exactly what you will be doing to grow roses from seeds.

The Anatomy of the Rose

By herself, Mother Nature is capable of growing roses from seed, but at a much slower rate than how long it takes if you interfered. This is because roses, although they are commonly known as the “queen” of all roses and appear to be very feminine, are actually very bi-sexual in nature. You heard that right. Roses are both male and female. They have an ovary, which contains the ovules (or eggs) to be fertilized by pollen, and a stamen, which houses the filaments containing the pollen. So if you leave the roses at that, you will end up with naturally produced seeds that you can plant later on. Once you see rose hips develop, leave them alone for four months and go on with your regular daily routine of rose care. When the four months have passed, it’s safe to say you can harvest the rose hips for seeds. However, if you are way more into advanced gardening and would like to hybridize roses, then you need to cross-pollinate them first.  

Hybridizing Roses

Assuming you have already selected the roses you want to cross-pollinate, it’s time to cut off a number of blooms and take their pollen sacs. To do this, look for flowers that are not yet fully opened, perhaps half or three-fourths open, and carefully pluck out all the petals, leaving inside a fresh-looking, golden yellow stamen in the middle. Take this out, too, and put them inside uncovered sterilized film canisters to dry. Wait for the stamens to burst open—this usually takes a few hours to an entire day, depending on the rose variety you choose to cross-pollinate.

By the time the pollen becomes available, the stigma, the part of the rose that receives the pollen grains, has become sticking, meaning, it is ready to receive the pollen. Using a clean Q-tip or your fingertips, dab the pollen grains into the stigma every four hours for an entire day.

Getting the Rose Seeds Ready

This is perhaps the most tedious part of growing roses from seed because it takes up a lot of preparation time before you can actually plant the seeds in soil. After harvesting the rose hips, slice them open and scrape out the seeds with a butter knife. You can throw away the pulp and the shell afterwards. Rinse the seeds in a solution of purified water (bottled water does the trick) mixed with two teaspoons of bleach. After rinsing, soak the seeds overnight in 3% peroxide to encourage better growth when planted. A good way to find out which are the good seeds and which ones will not make it past being planted is the water float test. Discard those that floated to the surface of the soaking solution because you can be sure those that sunk to the bottom are the high-quality seeds you should work on.

After soaking the seeds overnight, it is important that you clean them out further to thoroughly remove the pulp that has stuck to them. Place the seeds on a patch of clean cloth and brush the pulp away. Another method of cleaning them is by placing a cup of purified water in a blender that has plastic blades. Take note, it is important that you use plastic instead of metal blades so you do not damage your seeds. Turn the blender on for several minutes and your seeds will end up like dirty clothes being washed clean in a tub of whirring water and soap.  

It is also a good idea to stratify your rose seeds before planting them. This involves covering the seeds with a paper towel soaked in half-and-half water and peroxide solution. Fold the paper towel to secure the seeds inside and place it inside a Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and leave it in the refrigerator with a temperature of 34-38 degrees. After six to ten weeks, your rose seeds will finally be ready for planting.

Planting the Rose Seeds

Use a mixture of 50% potting soil and 50% vermiculite for your seeds. This is very light and will help your seeds germinate into healthier seedlings. Place the seeds about half an inch deep into the soil and lightly sprinkle with a rooting hormone, such as RooTone or Captan. If you are concerned about using chemical substances, however, you can always use a water-and-peroxide solution instead. Cover the seeds with soil and spray the substance again. This gives the seeds better chances of withstanding seed diseases, such as damp-off. Place your tray of seeds in direct sunlight and make sure they are watered thoroughly. Six weeks into the process and your seeds will have sprouted and will be ready for transplanting.

By that time, your rose seedlings will be ready to receive the same kind of rose care that you give to your other rose plants. Remember the three basic elements of successful rose gardening: water, soil, and sunlight. Make sure that you provide these for your seedlings, along with mulch and fertilizer, so that they will grow into healthy plants that reward you with beautiful blooms when the time comes.

Step 1: Before you go out there and attack your plants, make sure that your pruning tools are clean and disinfected.  This lessens the chance of your rose plants becoming infected with fungal diseases.  Remember also to disinfect your shears in between pruning two different plants to avoid one plant from catching spores that may have come from the previous one.  A 25% bleach solution should be used for dipping, wiping, or spraying your pruning tools.
  
Step 2: The saying, “Begin with a goal in mind,” also rings true for pruning climbers.  Before you start cutting away dead, old, and diseased branches, have an image of what your plants will look like after pruning.  This helps set a framework so you know which canes to take off and which ones to keep.  One thing to keep in mind, though, is to take away all foliage and old branches so that you leave enough room for new growth.  The old branches will be less productive when blooming season comes around and old leaves are more susceptible to catching diseases.
 
Step 3: The trick to growing vigorously blossoming
climbing roses is to train them to climb up the support horizontally instead of vertically.  Buds tend to grow and flourish only at the tips of vertical shoots because they release plant hormones that keep the lower buds from growing.  This can be prevented by keeping the growth horizontal.  To keep next year’s shoots growing in this way, begin with unfastening the ties that bind the lower canes to their support.  Cut away the lateral shoots and leave it down to two to five buds.  Make sure you prune away as much dead wood as possible so that you can prevent diseases, but don’t leave too little because you might kill the bud in the process.  Re-attach the canes back to their support.  A nylon stocking, a piece of soft twine, or even a wire covered in plastic can be used for this as long as you do not tie them around the canes too tightly.  You can then move up the climbing rose.
 
Step 4: If you are pruning a rose grown through grafting, make sure you check for rootstock suckers that will eventually take over the entire plant if you do not remove them.  Suckers are mostly swollen masses of tissue that have grown near the surface of the soil and pruning them away usually won’t work.  Get rid of these sore suckers by yanking them totally off the plant.  This removes all plant tissue affected by the suckers and will prevent them from coming back.
  
Step 5: Finally, clean the area around your roses to remove dead leaves and branches that may carry disease-causing microorganisms.  Also, spray your roses with insecticide to protect them from pests that come during the winter.
 
The Difference between Ramblers and Climbers
Ramblers will bloom only once every year while climbers have repeat-blooms, but you don’t need to watch out for blooming season the entire year to tell a rambler from a true climber.  Watch out for the little twigs that are more flexible than those in climbers.  These little twigs are what make ramblers grow up to 20 feet high if left un-pruned.  Also, the flowers of a rambler are small, but they still remain gorgeous because they grow in huge clusters that burst out from the buds.
 
The best time to prune both ramblers and climbers is when the plants are dormant in the late winter or early spring.  For ramblers, however, pruning should also be done right after every blooming season.  On the other hand, a large climbing rose should be left un-trained for the first three years, taking away only the dead foliage and branches so that new growth can take over.
 
If you follow these instructions religiously and exercise your own discretion as to which canes are healthy enough to leave behind, you will be rewarded with beautiful climbing roses that produce brilliant flowers.  We both know that pruning is not the happiest of tasks in the care of roses, but if you put in enough effort to it, you know you will be thankful for it.

It helps for you to know the different kinds of fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases that infect rose plants so that you can deal with them properly.  Here is a run-through of the most common diseases of roses, their symptoms, and how they can best be treated.
 
Black Spot. 
In the southern regions of the United States, where the climate is warmer and the air is more humid, black spot is considered to be one of the most difficult “thorns in the flesh”.  This disease is caused by the Diplocarpon rosae, a fungus that can cause all the leaves of the plant to fall and eventually kill the entire plant if left to its own devices.
 
It is easy to distinguish black spot from other diseases obviously because of the tiny black spots that grow on the upper sides of the leaves.  These spots generally range from 1/16 to ½ inch in size and are usually surrounded by a yellowish ring that separate it from neighboring spots.  Left untreated, the black spots will grow to combine with other black spots and consume the entire leaf, killing it in the process and letting it fall out. 
Black spot can also infect the stems in more severe cases, producing reddish-purple spots that will also grow over the entire stem if left untreated.  Black spots proliferate when the leaves are exposed to moisture for extended periods of time. 

To treat roses with black spot, prune away all infected leaves and stems.  The ground should also be cleared of everything infected with the diseases.  A proper fungicide spray program should be followed religiously over the next few months to ensure that the fungus 

Powdery Mildew.
Ever seen a white, fuzzy substance that’s been growing on your rose plants?  They may have powdery mildew, a fungal infection caused by Sphaerotheca pannosa.  Like all other rose diseases, powdery mildew is best treated early on by regularly spraying the leaves with a lime-sulfur combination to prevent fungi from taking over.  If you live in an area where rain and fluctuations in temperature are frequent, fungicide application should be done more often.  You should also cut away all the leaves, buds, and stems that are infected and avoid including them in your compost, as these will only come back to haunt next year’s growth.  In worse cases, powdery mildew can even climb down to the canes and prevent young buds from opening up. 

Rust.
 As the name implies, rust on roses is characterized by orange-brown spots that first grow on the underside of the leaves followed by yellowish spots on the upper side.  Over time, rust can also develop into narrow streaks on the stems.  Rust is a contagious disease that can be transferred to neighboring rose plants via the wind.  If not treated early, rust will cause the defoliation of the entire plant and will eventually kill your roses. 

Much like black spot and powdery mildew, the best way to prevent rust is to prevent the leaves and stems from being sprayed with water.  Though this cannot be totally avoided, especially in areas of heavy rainfall, rust can be prevented by using a fungicide spray of lime-sulfur and triforine.  All infected areas should also be cut away to prevent the rust spores from infecting other leaves and other plants.  You should also make sure that there are no dead leaves and stems carelessly left strewn across the ground. 

Brown Canker.
Unlike the rose diseases mentioned above, there is no chemical solution to treat brown canker in roses.  This disease occurs as an infection caused by the Cryptosporella umbrina, a fungus that manifests its symptoms in small steps, making it hard to notice the disease until it has taken over almost the entire plant. 

Brown canker first appears as small gray-white lesions on the stems.  Eventually, they move up the leaves in bigger white patches as a result of the small lesions combining then turn into large brown cankers that can climb down to the stems.  The cankers appear elongated and sunken, and when left to stay they will consume the entire stem and kill it off. 

The only way to treat brown canker is to prune away the infected stems and leaves before everything else gets infected. 

In all the common rose diseases mentioned above, proper care or roses is required for you to successfully prevent microorganisms from growing and causing diseases in your plants.  Remember the three requisites of growing healthy roses: sun, soil, and water.  You should be able to provide these three elements in their proper amounts to keep happy and healthy rose plants all throughout the year.

There are a number of rose watering considerations, and all these must be strictly followed.  Sure, roses love water, but it does not mean that you should drown your roses in them everyday.  Too much water can cause a lot of setbacks, including diseases, yellowing, falling leaves, and death.  In this article, we discuss with you three important things to remember when watering your roses, to ensure good rose garden care.  

Quantity and Quality
The general rule of thumb is to provide approximately two inches of water every week.  But how exactly can you measure two inches of water per week?  It is, indeed, not an easy thing to decipher, especially if you are just beginning with rose garden care.  What is more, there are other factors that determine just how much water your roses are getting.  The weather is a good example.  It is easier to determine the amount of water a rose plant needs in places where the weather is dry and there is no wind.  In an article originally published in the Rose Ecstasy magazine of the Santa Clarita Valley Rose Society, the author details when to water your roses at the different temperatures. 

Here is a summary:
 90+ degrees: everyday
 80 degrees: every two days
 70 degrees: every three days
 60 degrees: every four days
 50 degrees: every five days

Common sense and the summary above both show that the hotter the regions, the more you should water your roses.  But this is only true in places that are not windy.  Otherwise, the wind will quickly dry out your roses and you may need to water your roses everyday in less hot temperatures. 

The type of soil is another factor to consider because clay soils have better water retention properties than sandy soils.  Therefore, if your soil is mostly clay, you should remember to water less than if you have sandy soil, which lets the water drain more quickly.  Mulching your plants will also retain moisture much properly, aside from insulating your roses from extremely hot conditions during the summer. 

Deep-watering
Most gardeners prefer to water their roses less frequently but more deeply.  This ensures that the roots receive adequate amounts of water, making them healthier, stronger, and more resistant when the summer dryness comes around.  A drip irrigation system is most appropriate for deep watering, plus it prevents the leaves and stems from getting wet and developing fungal infection. 

Testing
Wilting and yellow leaves are a sign that you are not doing the proper ways of rose garden care.  But you do not want your roses to reach this stage before you realize that you are not giving them enough water.  It is therefore important that you test the soil around your plants to see if they are being adequately moisturized every week.  To perform this test, take a soil probe that you can buy from the nearest gardener’s supply store and dig it into the soil around your roses five days after the weekly watering (that is, if you only water once a week).  If the end of the probe shows soil that has completely dried up, then you probably need to water more or add some mulch.

There you have it—the four things you have to consider when watering your roses.  We hope we were able to help clear up your thoughts about this topic so you can finally go and start with the planting and caring.  Happy gardening!

 In this article, we teach you the basics of how you can attain this kind of soil for your roses.  We will also provide you with some helpful tips to remember when you are preparing your soil.  Here are the steps to get the soil ready for perfect rose garden care. 

Step 1: Determine the kind of soil you have.  If you have never done this before, you can send soil samples to a soil testing laboratory and have them identify the composition of your soil.  This will help you determine what kinds of soil preparation methods you will need to perform for your rose plants.  Many gardening supplies also sell soil testing kits that come with instructions that can easily be learned.  If you have soil that is mostly made of clay, this means that you will need less watering due to poor drainage.  You will also need to add lots of organic matter (mulch, compost, manure, etc.) to reduce high pH levels.  Sandy soil also requires much organic matter.  Unlike clay, however, it drains too quickly.  Naturally organic soil has good drainage and moisture retention but it needs some limestone to increase the low pH levels.  

Step 2: Add the needed soil amendments.  Most kinds of soil do well with additional organic matter.  It is advisable to add your compost in the winter time because it allows some time for the matter to completely rot before spring comes around.  You can purchase ready-made compost from your community nursery, but you can also make it yourself by mixing together organic wastes such as fruit and vegetable peelings, manure, grass clippings, and other backyard leftovers.  It is easy enough to do this—just add the compost on top of the soil and dig them in with a shovel or a tiller.  Organic matter, however, is not the only material you can add to successfully grow and care for roses.  In areas where the soil is acidic, some ground limestone should be added to increase the pH to the ideal level.  Other substances that are beneficial to rose garden care are fertilizers.  Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are essential to the growth of roses, especially phosphorus, which increases the number of flowers every time the plant blooms.  

Step 3: Till the soil every season.  This aerates the soil, leaving much room for earthworms and bacteria to thrive and water and air to circulate.  Use a shovel to dig into new beds and a fork for soil that already holds rose plants.  However, you should remember to dig about a foot away from the plants to avoid disturbing the roots. 

Step 4: Check the soil drainage.  This is only done when you have mixed the perfect recipe for your soil.  To do this, dig a hole 12 inches into the ground and fill it with water.  If it takes approximately 15 minutes to dry up, then drainage is just about perfect.  If it dries too fast, you may need to add more composted material for the soil to have better moisture retention.  If it dries too slowly, the soil may have too much clay in it. 

Below are some important things to remember when mixing up the perfect soil for your roses:

1.    Be careful about mixing sand and clay.  Too much sand will create a hard layer just below the surface of the soil, blocking water from reaching deeper into the roots of your roses. 

2.    Too much organic matter makes the soil too acidic.  Too much ground limestone will make it too basic. 

 3.    Organic material that has not decayed completely will require exposure to nitrogen.  When adding whole organic matter, make sure to add some nitrogen into the soil.  ¼ to 1 ½ pounds of nitrogen is enough for 100 pounds of organic matter. 

It may be difficult at first, but having the right soil mixture for your roses is one of the most important considerations if you want to care for roses.  We hope this article has helped you a lot in finding out more about good soil conditions and how to achieve those conditions so you can grow beautiful roses for your garden.  Good luck and happy planting!

Double Delight.  This 1977 winner of the AARS is one of the most widely planted roses in the entire world, not only because of its outstanding beauty but also because its resistance to diseases.  Its petal colors come in varieties, depending on the weather conditions in which it is planted.  In North America, the young blooms open with a creamy white, with a slight rim of red which spreads inside as the flower matures.  The only place that the Double Delight rarely flourishes is damp, cold places where its vigor is relatively ‘dampened.’

Carefree Spirit.  This creation of research director Jacques Mouchotte of the Meilland International won the 2009 AARS award for its ability to resist diseases even without fungicides. 

In a real-world testing conducted by the AARS, Carefree Spirit is the only rose shrub to endure pests and diseases even without spraying.  It is much like its parent plant Carefree Delight, with its single set of scarlet petals and dark green glossy leaves. 

Iceberg.  Although the Pink Iceberg rose have lately been developed, the original white Iceberg is still considered to be the golden standard for all white roses.  Known to be the only rose to have the purest of all whites, Iceberg is also known for its winter-hardiness and disease-resistant foliage.  This rose also boasts of a light rose fragrance that lasts through the cold winters and even through the heat of summer.

Mister Lincoln.  If the Iceberg rose sets the standard for white roses, Mister Lincoln is the classic dark red rose known for its fragrant scent and elegance.  In 1965, Mister Lincoln won an AARS award and has, since then, snatched a place in the hearts of gardeners even up to now.  It is winter-hardy and is a repeat bloomer.  This is a long-stemmed hybrid tea rose and are well-used by florists for Valentine’s day bouquets and indoor decorations. 

Pink Promise.  For every purchase of the Pink Promise rose, a percentage of the proceeds is donated to the U.S. National Breast Cancer Foundation as financial assistance to the execution of the organization’s breast cancer awareness campaigns.  And that is not the only reason to plant the Pink Promise rose because it has high disease resistance and winter hardiness.  It also boasts of beauty with its pink petals highly contrasting with dark green leaves and a fruity fragrance that fills an entire room.  

Graham Thomas.  This David Austin-bred rose is one of the best English roses to grow in your garden.  It can take on the form of classic shrubs, or it can vigorously become 10-feet climbers.  A newly opened Graham Thomas bears a rich, golden color which fades into a buttery amber as it fully blooms into a cupped, double flower.  This disease-resistant English rose is also very popular for its fruity scent characteristic of many tea roses. 

Cinco de Mayo.  One of the most unique of all rose varieties, the Cinco de Mayo received an AARS award for 2009.  Its color is a blend of smoked lavender and a rusty scarlet, bringing with it a festive air into your garden.  Developed by Tom Carruth and introduced by Weeks Roses of Rancho Cucamonga, California, this floribunda is also very winter-hardy and disease resistant.

There you have it—the best roses to grow in a garden located anywhere in the world.  These varieties are all original beauties that have their own properties for thriving in hot and cold places and enduring pests and fungi that bring disease.  We hope that this list was able to help you decide what to plant next in your own front yard.  Happy gardening!

For centuries the colour black has been associated with death, decay and mystery; the black plague, the black underworld and the ‘black sheep of the family’.  When we think of the rose, we imagine beauty, health and romance, a symbol of love and warmth. The Black rose is a mix of two opposites combining the mysterious with the beautiful.

 Legend tells us that whoever receives a black rose will have a mystical and powerful experience.

There are six types of black rose, the Black Baccara, Black Beauty, Black Magic, Black Ice, Black Velvet and Black Jade; all are such a deep red that they appear almost completely black.

The Black Baccara Rose

The Black Baccara rose with its velvet petals is the closest breeders have come to producing a naturally black rose. It is the darkest, most mysterious rose of them all. On its edges, the Baccara rose is almost black, but as the blossom unfurls, it reveals interior petals which are a rich burgundy red.

Black Baccara Roses were originally developed for the cut flower market, for they have an unusually long vase life as well as their unusual colouring. However, in 2004 the “Meidebenne” Black Baccara Hybrid Tea Rose was introduced for the garden and it has been discovered that it does not have a high resistance to disease. The Black Baccara Rose does not have a strong fragrance but adds a touch of mystery and intrigue to any garden that feeds it.

The Black Beauty Rose

The Black Beauty rose was introduced in 1973 from France. With large petals and long stems it is one of the Hybrid Tea varieties. Like most of the Black roses, they appear jet black in the bud stage, but as they open they reveal a rich scarlet. The back of each petal is dark and velvety that feels soft and silky to the touch. This Black Beauty doesn’t have much fragrance; however the rose blooms all through summer and autumn. It is well worth pruning the Black Beauty rose, for when it blooms the colours are striking.

The Black Magic Rose

The Back Magic rose is the offspring of the ‘Guinee’ rose and has inherited its strong Damask perfume and rich red colour. The black magic rose is a large flowered climber and they bloom for a significantly long time. These stunning flowers grow up to ten feet tall and fill the garden with a powerful burst of perfume. The Black Magic rose is strong, resistant to disease and extremely popular with rose enthusiasts around the globe.

The Black Ice Rose

The Black Ice is a cluster flowered Floribunda Rose and gets its name from the ‘Iceberg’ rose which is in the parentage. These wonderful roses have black buds that open up into beautiful scarlet blossoms that continue to grow throughout summer and autumn. They grow 2-3 feet in height.

The Black Velvet Rose

With its dark green leathery foliage, this large flowered Hybrid Tea is burgundy red with a black velvety look which is where its name originates. The roses grow one to a stem and grow up to six feet. The Black Velvet rose is known to be notoriously resistant to disease.

The Black Jade Rose

The Black Jade Rose has extremely strong stems that hold clusters of 5-10 blooms. Like most of its Black Rose cousins, the Black Jade rose is almost black as a bud, however when it opens up it reveals bright golden yellow stamens that contrast against the dark petals. The Black Jade rose is a repeat-flowering bush with glossy foliage and is extremely disease resistant. It grows up to three feet in height.

It was the white rose, not the red rose that was originally the symbol for true love. However, today white roses are portrayed as angelic, while red roses are very much associated with passion and love.

The white garden rose is particularly well known for its aroma. The Winchester Cathedral variety fills the air with the fragrance of honey and almonds.

One of the most popular varieties of white garden roses, the Winchester Cathedral is a very strong rose and blooms extremely early in the year. The Fair Bianca white garden rose has a very unusual appearance, with a green eye in the centre and a very strong and spicy fragrance. The Fair Bianca is notorious for being disease resistant.

If you want to fill your garden with the lovely aroma of lemons then plant the madam Hardy white garden rose which fills the air with citrus fragrances. Or there’s the Queen Mary 2 which is a new rose of the Hybrid Tea variety named after a cruise ship and which smells just like bananas.

Rosa Kent Towne and Country white garden rose is a very small white rose standing at only two feet tall and wide. However just because it’s small does not mean it is weak. This strong little white rose battles through the winter months to bloom its semi double flowers throughout the summer.

Another white garden rose is the Panda Meidiland, another smaller white rose which has singular blooms and a golden centre. This variety doesn’t have a fragrance at all but is very good at fighting off disease and very easy to look after.

The White Flower Carpet is a white garden rose that only grows to two and a half feet tall but has twelve luminous white rose petals throughout the summer months. This rose grows very quickly and is mostly used to cover a large area quickly or as a white rose hedge.

A tiny little white garden rose called the Gourmet Popcorn, named because it resembles a popcorn ball on a stick has rich golden centres and is extremely popular with rose lovers.  The Gourmet Popcorn white rose has miniature rose flowers but can reach to heights of three feet.

The Rosa Rugosa, otherwise known as the ‘Alba’ white garden rose has rich and fragrant blooms which burst into flower in late summer to autumn. The Rugosa varieties of white roses are extremely tough and are some of the most carefree, easy to grow roses. They are wonderful to look after because they don’t need much pruning and can push off disease easily. Another type of Rugosa rose is the Blanc Double de Coubert which also has a strong fragrance with 25-30 petals.

The white garden rose is strikingly beautiful as well as beautifully fragrant and is an asset to any garden.

However there is no such thing as a rose tree that you plant in the ground like an apple tree and watch grow. A rose tree is an accumulation of roses that are grafted together to form the shape of a tree.

To make a rose tree you will need a long slender cane approximately 1 meter in length to support the growth of the roses. The ‘tree; is created by making two grafts, one at the top of the cane to support the Floribunda, Grandiflora or Hybrid Tea and one at the bottom of the cane to support the rootstock.

Usually the central cane must be staked to support the weight of the grafted rose at the top. In areas that are prone to wind, it is especially important the cane is staked.

Problems with Rose Trees

All roses are prone to pests and disease attacking them, however as well as this, the rose tree is especially vulnerable to the sun. The cane that supports its structure is prone to scalding. Rose trees are not only susceptible to the sun, they are vulnerable to the cold and during the winter it is particularly difficult to protect rose trees from ice and frost.

Usually roses require mulch placed around the base to protect them from the cold, however rose trees need mulch placed all the way up the cane. This can be done by either transplanting the rose to a safer place or by producing a wire mesh to surround the cane which you can then fill with mulch.

Pruning Rose Trees

To achieve the right look for your rose tree you will need to constantly prune your roses. It is especially important you only prune the flowering part of the rose tree not the central part where the cane supports it. If a rose tree isn’t pruned properly it will be more susceptible to disease which causes an uneven distribution of weight which could then result in the stems breaking.

Species of Rose Tree

There are several different species of rose trees.

Double Decker Rose Tree

As the name suggests, the Double Decker Rose Tree produces two layers of flowers. The Yellow Ribbons Double Decker Rose Tree is one of the most beautiful rose trees to hit the market.

The Roseberry Blanket Weeping Tree Rose

This wonderful rose tree produces large sized fuchsia blooms that have arched rose stems which overflow with roses and cascade towards the ground as if weeping.

The Betty Boop Rose Tree

The renowned American animated character has her own rose that matches her for sparkle. The Betty Boop Rose Tree is yellow and ivory with scarlet edging and glossy green leaves that never fail to attract admirers. The Betty Boop Rose Tree blooms quickly without deadheading or shaping and is consistent in all climates, which is why it is so popular with rose enthusiasts.

Rose trees are an extremely rare sight and add height to the colourful landscape of a rose garden. When you see your rose tree blooming happily, you will feel enormous pride as you rest in your sea of roses.