For many centuries garden roses have been on of the gardeners favorite plants. Way back, during the time of the Roman Empire, many of the gardens of southern Rome featured an abundance of roses. Throughout history famous gardens have often featured roses and, during the seventeenth century, at Chateau de Malmaison, near Paris, France, Napoleon's wife developed rather extensive rose gardens.
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.
Black roses are becoming increasingly popular but did you know that a black rose is not truly black? Black is such a difficult color to create that such blooms are often extremely dark shades of red, blue or purple. When creating a border of roses you are literally spoilt for choice. Using various shades of the same color can create a spectacular sight but often using contrasting colors can create dramatic effect. Planting white roses amongst black is a powerful contrast but a white rose will go well with virtually any color!
As well as the incredible choice in color there are a number of distinctive types of roses available to the modern landscape gardener. Amongst the most popular are the Hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses which are usually free standing specimens that are relatively easy to grow and generally trouble free (except for greenfly which can be a real pest!). The difference between the twoi types is simple - Hybrid Tea roses produce their blooms on a single stem whereas the Floribunda types produce clusters of blooms.
Full standard roses are an interesting alternative to Floribundas and HT's. Such roses are wonderfully useful in adding height and dimension as they are grafted onto a 1m stem. Usually consisting of at least three good strong stems full standards quickly develop into a bushy plant which can be easily trained by careful pruning and constant attention. Full standards can also act as a focal point in both large and small yards and are perfect for growing in containers and placing around a patio or decking.
Climbing roses are, most probably, the most versatile type in that you can allow your imagination to run riot. Commonly they are seen growing over garden structures such as arches and they can add interest to an otherwise bland wall or fence. Personally I like to train climbing roses up around some of my larger trees and I also have a couple in containers trained up a small trellis which can be used as a moveable screen!
Not so common is the miniature rose which only grows to around 25-40cm. Obviously, as they are only small, their use is somewhat limited but they are perfect plants to grow in containers or for use at the edge of a border. I find miniature roses fascinating and I prefer to grow red specimens but they are also available in white, yellow and lilac.
Growing roses can involve a little more effort than is usually required for common garden plants but the rewards more than make up for it. Nothing beats wandering around your garden and suddenly being hit by a wall of fragrance which can be easily brought into the home in the form of the most beautiful cut flowers available. If you are thinking of growing roses I strongly advise that you investigate how to care for them before you proceed as there is nothing more depressing than losing a named floribunda due to lack of care.
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