Roses in a container

If you would like to create a small rose garden you don’t have to think in terms of anything formal.  

A rose garden can be very simple and you only need a few good roses to provide you with a lovely display provided that you observe a few rose friendly rules.

If your garden is particularly small, you can even grow roses successfully in containers.

Roses also grow quite happily together with other flowers so don’t worry if you don’t have space for a formal rose garden.

In fact, a garden with roses under-planted with annuals such as lobelia or alyssum will look particularly lovely.

Take a look at the container of roses above and see how a few seasonal perennials are planted around the base.  They serve not only to improve the display but also to keep the roots of the rose cool.

Here are 7 tips to bear in mind when you start to plan your small rose garden

• Whether your garden is large or small, all roses need a marked change of seasons from winter to summer.  So make sure that your climate is suitable for roses before you invest in both time and money. Fortunately roses are fairly adaptable so check with your local rose nursery for advice before you  buy and if your climate is not over friendly to roses, he may be able to suggest a few hardy varieties that would do well in your area.

• Your roses will need a minimum of at least six hours of sunlight a day if you want them to produce masses of roses. If you plant them in pots you can move them so that they catch the most sun. Some rose varieties can tolerate a certain amount of semi-shade but generally roses do not flower well unless they receive the required amount of sunlight.

• If you don’t like to use poisons in your garden there are some effective organic sprays for roses such as a concoction of garlic and soap water. Garlic planted among your rose bushes also acts as a natural deterrent against insects.

• If you garden is very dry remember to mulch your roses with pine needles or other suitable mulching material. This helps to conserve moisture around the roots.

• Allow your rose bushes to grow into sturdy bushes before cutting long stems.  Resist the temptation to cut roses for the house with long stems until the bushes are strong enough.

• Deadhead roses regularly – that is remove the dead blooms so that all nutrients and vigor go into the rose bushes rather than into the making of seed heads.

• A healthy rose bush is a bush with many leaves. Remember that leaves provide the food for the plant so make sure that you encourage as much leaf growth as possible by fertilizing and watering frequently.

 And the most important of all the tips – just talk to your roses!  I do

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

The biggest rose that I have ever seen is without doubt the lovely hybrid tea rose, Garden Queen.

This enormous rose has a wonderful fragrance, and is very eye-catching, not only because of its huge size and perfection of form but also because of its wonderful combination of colours that range from a deep pink to a rich deep violet.

Not only is this one of the biggest roses that I have ever seen – it also lasts a long time in the vase.  An added plus about Garden Queen is that the bush is sturdy, strong and vigorous and that it seems to be virtually disease free.

I only have to pick three of these huge blooms to fill a vase and they always make quite a talking point.

Another magnificent pink rose that I love is Flamingo. It’s a much lighter pink rose with its peachy centre and flamingo shade of pink on the open petals. But despite its very large size, this is a graceful rose. It’s a strong grower and the flowers last an incredibly long time in the vase.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

If I had to choose the best rose in my garden it would have to be Double Delight.  If you only have space for one rose bush in your garden I would heartily recommend this lovely rose.

Double Delight is a large bi-coloured rose in cream and scarlet. It starts off mostly cream but as it gets older in the sun the outer petals change from cream to red.

The most Fragrant Rose
Double Delight is without doubt one of the most fragrant roses in my garden.  The scent is outstanding.  Just a few of these roses can fill any room with their wonderful perfume. As an added bonus, they last very well as cut flowers.

My Double Delight rose bush is completely covered with huge flowers throughout most of the season. The bush is sturdy and compact, disease free and keeps repeating its blooms over and over.  There is also a climbing Double Delight that I want to try soon.

A bi-colour Rose
If this rose is planted in strong sunlight the colour ranges from cream to deep scarlet.  Otherwise the red remains somewhat subdued. But mainly, the rose is a combination of cream suffused with carmine or deep red.

Some people have commented that their Double Delight roses are mostly cream with only a bit of carmine along the edges. The reason for this is that the rose bush probably gets too little sunlight.  The most striking colour combinations can only be achieved if the rose is planted in direct sunlight.

The Double Delight in my garden is a combination of cream and rich red. You can see an actual photo of one of these Double Delight roses in my garden

In all my experience, I have never found two of these roses that are identical. There are so many factors that can influence the quality and colour of the blooms.

The position of your rose garden, the weather, the feeding and the soil conditions will all combine to make Double Delight a unique specimen in your rose garden.

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development

Talk to your roses

If you talk to your roses we’re on the same wavelength.  Because I talk to my roses every day.  As I walk up and down the rose beds I have an encouraging word for each one.  Sometimes it’s a word of admiration – at other times a nod of recognition.  Then I go in and deadhead any spent roses making appropriate comments all the while.

Ok so you think I’m nuts!  It doesn’t really matter as long as we all remember that roses are living things.  They may not have blood running through their veins but they do have veins and they do have green sap running through them.

Roses like to be admired.  They like to be touched and smelled and appreciated.  This type of communication is important.  My roses respond hugely to a kind word or two by putting out excellent growth and a profusion of blooms.

At any rate, communicating in this way isn’t totally off the wall because I can tell as soon as they need water, or mulching or a good dose of rich compost.

All this keeps my rose bushes healthy. Then, as soon as the first flush of roses has passed, long red shoots begin to emerge from the base of each bush. These shoots are proof of the vigour of the rose bush. They hold within them the promise of the future.  Because when they mature they will be topped with sprays of fresh roses.

Healthy, happy roses respond in the only way they can – with generosity and an abundance of healthy blooms.  So yes, I talk to my roses and it works!

More about my crazy methods with roses at my website and find out about the top five roses in my garden .  You can find tips for growing roses at  rose care

Craft and Create - The Creative Route to Personal Development