Backyard Gardening Tips

Growing a great rose garden isn’t always the easiest thing to do so I went for a long time just ignoring the rose but today I came across this great ebook with 101 tips for growing your own rose garden. Now I can have great looking and healthy roses, just like our neighbours.

More than 25 years ago I was an employee of Sears and sold roses through their garden department. I loved that job but then computers became popular and my life changed, but that’s a story for another day.

Selling roses is how I met Patricia, who would later become our lawyer. She and her father would come in all the time and buy roses and more roses.

Now we have a home with a property big enough to enjoy some rose gardening so I am learning what I need to know so that we can have some beautiful roses as part of our flower garden.

Not everyone is comfortable growing their own roses so they don’t but this little ebook has the answers and tips that will give you the confidence to plant your own roses, care for them correctly, pruning included and even how to cut them for your own bouquet and arrangements.

Knowing how to fertilize, water and prevent diseases will give you the confidence you have lacked in the past. If this sounds like I am talking to myself well I am. We didn’t have any confidence even though I work in a garden center. They never taught me how to grow them, just to sell them.

If you have an interest in growing your own rose garden then you need to read 101 Tips for Growing and Enjoying Your Own Great Rose Garden.

Image via WikipediaWho hasn’t heard of the song about ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’?  The yellow rose is one of the most popular roses in history.  The song, however, was actually about a lady a Civil War soldier is trying to find.  Dolly Parton also wrote a song titled ‘Yellow Roses’ about a romance with someone who both began and ended the relationship with a yellow rose.

There are companies named for the yellow rose, such as Yellow Rose Products, Yellow Rose Enterprises and Yellow Rose Gifts.  There are books written, such as the Yellow Rose Bride, A Texas Sky, the Yellow Rose Trilogy and a series called The Yellow Rose Mysteries.  There is yellow rose white gold jewelry.  A concealer has been made called the Yellow Rose of Texas, which hides imperfections of the skin.

The yellow rose has been said to symbolize friendship, caring, freedom, dying love, and platonic love.  In German-speaking countries, the yellow rose means jealousy or infidelity.  It is appropriate to send yellow roses to graduates, Texans, new mothers, and newlyweds.  If you send red roses mixed with yellow roses, it stands for happiness and celebration.  A single rose of any color is a sign of thanks.  A safe idea is to send a note with the yellow rose, explaining your intentions!
In the 18th century, yellow roses were discovered growing wild in parts of the Middle East.  The first yellow roses found did not have a sweet smelling fragrance.  Cross-breeding was a friend to the yellow rose’s scent.  You can buy organically grown yellow roses, which would give support to environmentally-friendly farming.

Yellow roses will bring a touch of sunshine to any flower arrangement.  You won’t be disappointed in the addition to your flower bed.  They add elegance to any décor in a home.  The yellow rose is a pleasant image on items of clothing, bedding, curtains, and so on.

The yellow rose has brought financial gain to Texas by association with the song title.  It has benefited Texas for years by way of its commercial value.  But the yellow rose is certainly not limited to Texas or Texas products and services.  It is available in many areas of the world.  People in countries that have no connection to Texas have enjoyed the silent, quiet, soothing beauty of the yellow rose.

On the downside, there is a link between yellow roses and blackspot.  Blackspot is a leaf disease that defoliates and kills.  Hybrid yellow roses have been bred stronger and more resistant to blackspot, however, resistant roses still need care to avoid disease.  Also, the area makes a difference in how well a yellow rose will be able to fend off disease.  A warm and humid climate will be more inviting to the disease.  There are sprays available to help guard against blackspot, such as apple cider vinegar spray.  Wild herbs like stinky nettle, horsetails, and comfrey are also used by some as a spray for blackspot.  Whatever the case, if you truly want yellow roses, where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Image via WikipediaOne type of rose that seems saturated with sophistication beginning with its name is the English rose. There have been stories and books written with the name. But the English roses are especially deserving of a name that suggests class and royalty.

English roses are a group of roses, introduced by a hybridizer in the 1960’s. They were created to enhance some of the Old Roses, although a rose is a special flower in its own right and would seem to need no such enhancing. A rose by any name or type is a long-admired favorite among almost anyone.

The English roses tickle the senses with their delicate charm and fragrance. If you enjoy the idea of a larger rose, this type is a good choice. Being a fuller flower with many lovely petals, it is a delight for the eyes. Having been bred also for the excellent scent, English roses are a delight for the nose as well. The old-style combines with the modern style for a nice balance.

Although roses are mostly associated with the thought of the female gender, many types of English roses also carry male names. If you’d like a garden to suggest a theme, you could devote an area to roses with names of each gender. A few of the English roses with names are:

• Charles Austin
• David Austin
• Brother Cadfael
• Charles Darwin
• and Benjamin Britten.

Some English roses with female names include:

• Barbara Austin
• Claire Rose
• Cordelia
• Evelyn
• and Gertrude Jekyll.

Maybe you’d like to include some English roses with names that play on your tongue to exercise your palate.

Try Corvedale, Glanis Castle, Jaquenetta, and Mortimer Sackler. If you yearn for English roses with names from other lands, try Queen Nefertiti, Sharifa Asma, or Shropshire Lad.

As with most anything these days, there are many websites devoted to the famous David Austin English roses. They are beautiful hybrids that can only add pleasure to your landscaping. They are meant to be admired and enjoyed by all. One man’s dream and creativity reaches people worldwide with something as simple and yet complex as the English roses.

Roses have the most elaborate vocabulary of any flower. Rose buds generally signify youth and beauty, red roses signify passion, white roses purity and innocence, and yellow roses jealousy and/or infidelity. You’ll find a wide array of colors available in the English roses. They can mean much or nothing, depending on what you want from your garden.

An interesting tidbit of information is that rose water is not a perfume. It is still used in cosmetics and perfume. The Romans created a beauty treatment using dried roses and lion’s fat.

English roses are enjoyed by people in all walks of life: rich, poor, famous, and the regular “joe”. You don’t have to speak a certain language or be anyone special to plant and enjoy the endearing English roses. You don’t have to have an entire garden of roses either. An English rose plant is beautiful all by itself.