Growing Roses

Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we're learning all about growing roses. Now roses have been around for thousands of years and even back 6000, 7000 years ago, there's evidence that the Chinese used them in their flower arrangements in their beautiful gardens. And then the English of course have spread roses all over the worlds and their beautiful English rose gardens. And they come in many different shapes and sizes and they have a very interesting history. But they're easy to grow in the garden as well. So roses can grow in a container right in the ground but they need full hot sun and good drainage and they never want to sit in water and they never want to be totally dried out either. So it's an in between. And I found that it's much easier to grow them in climates where you have a little more moisture than in the desert because they do like a little bit of moisture. But yet if you live in an area where it's very wet all the time, they do have problems with black spots or mold on them here and there. But there's many different varieties that are stronger than others so by doing your research and finding out which roses will do best in your climate without getting any of the black spots, that is the best solution because there's really no way to fix the problem if you have roses with black spots. I just try to clear them out and cut them back and a lot of time they'll grow lush and new the next year. Growing roses is very rewarding and I always remember to prune them back not more than one third the size a year and midway through the summer too when they start looking a little tacky, I just trim all of the dead roses out and trim them back a bit and they'll grow lush and new for the fall and will get more blooms on them. Whether you plant them in the wintertime or the springtime it doesn't really matter when you plant them. If you live in a really cold climate then spring probably would be better than the winter because you can't get in the ground. But planting them in mild climates, you can plant them anytime and the wintertime's the best and you can enjoy them that summer.