Understanding Garden Roses

Of all the flowers in the garden, roses have been amongst the most popular for many centuries. The ancient Romans adored roses and many appeared in the prestigious gardens of southern Rome. Over the centuries there have been numerous examples of fine rose gardens developed by the Royal families of Europe and the aristocracy. Today there are many different types of roses available making them highly suitable to all types of modern garden.

Giving roses to a loved one is something of a long held tradition and the blooms have long been associated with love and romance. However there are plenty of other things that can be said by presenting the blooms to a person because, over the years, different colored rose blooms have become associated with different meanings. Love and romance will always be the most popular, especially when it comes around to Valentines Day when the sales of red roses increases dramatically.

Of all the flowers in the garden roses must be amongst the most widely varied when it comes to the choice of color. Black is becoming a popular choice in bloom color but it is such a difficult color to reproduce that you will find that black roses are really just incredibly dark shades of blues, purples or, most commonly, very dark reds. White blooms are incredibly useful and contrast well with black (or virtually any other color) but a border of all one color can be equally as stunning.

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.

Completely different to HT’s and Floribundas is the full standard rose. Of course the main bush is very similar but it is placed (grafted) onto a long stem (usually 1m) to add height. Such plants are spectacular and rather unusual so can easily be used as a colorful focal point in any backyard. If you have a patio or an area of decking you will be pleased to know that they can easily be grown in small containers making them amongst the most versatile plants available.

Although I do not have many roses in my own garden I do like to use climbing roses. Climbing roses can be used in a number of ways and are most useful when trained to grow and cover something that would, ordinarily appear a little plain and boring (such as a wall or fence). Another way in which to use climbers is to allow them to grow up and around some of the larger trees in your garden. Furthermore climbers can be grown in containers if given support or a small trellis.

Finally a more unusual type of rose is the miniature rose. As miniature roses only grow to about 25-40cm they can only be used in certain circumstances as they are easily swamped by other larger and more vigorous plants. Usually miniature roses are used at the front of borders or in containers and they are available in a reasonable range of colors which include pinks, reds, lilacs, yellows and white.

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.