by Sammy Stein

Created on: May 10, 2011

Roses add color, scent and sheer joy to any garden. They are the quintessential 'showy' flowering plant and come in a vast range of colors, sizes, forms and habits. Once established, roses will give you many years of joy.

The key to successful roses is planting and initial care. First choose the kind of rose you want. There are many kinds, from the bush rose, which, as the name suggests, grows to form a bushy structure, to ramblers and climbers - the difference being that ramblers grow from the base each year and are pruned hard back,whilst climbing roses are often less hardy (and less thorny) and flower on last year's growth, so only flowered stems are pruned back to soil level. There are also hybrid tea roses - which constitute a lage , older, group of roses and many of these are floribunda which means literally, many flowered because they produce huge numbers of flowering heads.

Others are species rose and include 'Peace', 'Brownie', Alba', Ice' and Peaches and Cream' and these produce single, large and often scented flowers, one per stem. There are also dwarf or patio roses which can be grown in containers and the beautiful and wondrous Damask roses - originating in the East, bred for their scents and oils (it takes 5tonnes of rose petals to produce a litre of rose attar).  

Roses are planted in the dormant season - usually with woody perennials, the rule is to plant bare rooted plants any time between October to February all year for container grown plants but roses prove the exception to this rule and definitely benefit from being planted whilst dormant.

Prepare the ground well and position the rose where it will have plenty of light without being in the hot sun during the middle of the day, some shelter from wind and where it can grow to its expected size without competition. Prepare the ground in advance by deep digging and incorporating lots of organic material. Roses are hungry feeders - no wonder when they produce such huge blooms- and require nitrogen at the start of the season and phosphorous before and during flowering so manure provides the ideal long-term, slow release source of these vital nutrients.

Soak the rose plants overnight and then trim any overgrown or damaged roots. Dig a hole large enough for the rose with its roots gently teased out. Put some organic material at the bottom of the hole and place the rose in.If a stake is needed, place this before planting the rose to avoid root damage. Place the rose in

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