Rose Garden - Hot Ideas

Tips and Tricks To Growing A Better Rose Garden

A lot of people love roses, and that's hardly surprising. When your rose bushes are thriving and covered in blooms, they look absolutely stunning. But if you're just starting out with a rose garden, it's not always easy to know how to arrange your garden to make it as attractive as possible. There are many difference factors that you need to take into consideration when planning your rose garden, including more than just what color the flowers will be.

Start by taking a look around at the various resources available to you. This can include rose gardening books, magazines, and websites on the Internet. Browsing can give you lots of good ideas, but here are a few to get your started.

First, how much space do you have available in your garden for roses? Once you know the space available, you will be able to work out how many rose bushes you need to plant. This is also dictated by the type of rose you choose, and some can be placed quite close together, whereas others, such as climbers, may need to be as much as twelve feet apart. If your rose garden area is small, it may be wise to choose miniature roses for the best effect. These are very attractive when they are planted closely together in a garden bed.

Next, think about colors. Do you have a favorite rose color? You might want to design your rose garden around that color there. Perhaps you want to create a pattern with different colored roses, or just find roses that will complement the color of your house. Many people find growing red and white roses alternately in a rose garden makes a pretty, patterned effect. If your house is a shade of peach, however, you might like to choose a mixture of peach and yellow roses instead.

Also, think about what plants you want to put around the base of your rose bushes. For part of the year roses are not particularly attractive and can even be a little bare, so it's good to have some other plants to fill in the gaps in the rose garden. Choose plants with flowers that blend well with your roses. They don't necessarily have to be the same color, just complementary. For example, a low growing purple flower would go well underneath a row of peach roses. Red blends well with pink or white filler plants.

Now that you've worked out exactly what effect you want in your rose garden, it's time to begin the preparation process.

Maintaining Your Rose Garden With Beautiful Roses


The sweet smell of roses presents an overwhelming reason to start a rose garden. Some roses bloom for several months at a time, and have a strong and beautiful scent. Not only The sweet smell of roses entice you to start a rose garden but the beauty and color of roses. .

Roses symbolize love, beauty, war, and politics but mostly love. Poets have written about the rose, singers have penned songs in its owner. But the Rose stands on its own as a testament to the greatness that is nature.

The rose that carries the name of William Shakespeare is an extraordinarily beautiful rose. There are several categories of roses. This particular species is a shrub rose. The bloom is very large and very fragrant. The individual blooms are 4 inches across and have full petals. The rich fragrance has a hint of the smell of violets. This a beautiful much sought after rose. However, the rose requires a high maintence gardner.

'"William Shakespeare' is one of the Austin roses that has been relegated to the "collectors item" group. This shrub produce some magnificent blooms. If you are willing to give this rose the special care it needs, it can be a most beautiful rose.

There are as many variations of roses as there are reason for stating a rose garden. The decision comes down to what are your personal preferences With such a large choice for the kinds of roses you can grow, the real choice is how much work are you willing to devote to growing roses?

The following questions can be answered to make your final choices.

What colors do you like best. Choose the color of roses based on your preferences for color and combinations of colors. You can match the surrounding scenery. You can create a unique new color scheme. Roses come in so many variations of color that your choices are unlimited.

Surprisingly, size is a consideration when choosing roses for your garden. You want to calculate the height that the rose will be at maturity. Some roses bushes can grow up to fifteen feet in height. Will your fence or house accommodate this size? If space is limited you can always choose miniature roses.

Decide the climate requirement for the roses of your choice. The rose catalogues will provide you all the information you need to make a wise choice regarding the ideal climate for the rose you want to grow. Choosing the right roses for your particular climate and soil conditions is a very important consideration. Purchase roses that can accommodate the climate where you plan to plant them.

Maintaining your rose garden will be easier if you have taken the color, size and climate requirement into consideration. Some roses are bred to be very disease resistant. Although the William Shakespeare Rose is a very beautiful roses, it is not disease resistant and would not be a good choice for a low maintenance rose garden.

A new rose landscaper may want to choose landscape roses as your first project. Landscape roses are easy to care for and disease-resistant. These roses will grow lush petals. The will grow up the garden trellises to enhance the beauty of the area. Add climbing roses to the landscape roses to create a beautiful and colorful landscape. Although climbing roses look similar to landscape roses, climbing roses have been trained to grow upward like vines. Your first rose garden will a beautiful tribute to the Barb.


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Floral Arrangements: Silk Orchids, Hydrangea and Roses and How to Use Them

Flowers can make a stunning difference to any room's decor, but they do more than that, they lift the spirit at the same time. Not long ago, silk flowers were only a poor imitation of the originals, but in the last two years stunning, botanically correct silk flowers have hit the market and it is changing the way we look at floral arrangements. No longer poor cousins, silk flowers are an art form in their own right, floral arrangements large and small set the mood in any room and can compliment any decor.

Amongst the first flowers to become truly realistic were orchids. These precious hot house flowers were once used to adorn hats and expensive garments. Now silk orchids, in stunning colors from red through rust, orange and yellow to the always popular white, pink and lilac, can be used to decorate rooms in quite different ways. For a country house look choose orchids in deep rust in a brown or oriental container. For a modern, minimalist look, a tall floor standing orchid is ideal, while for sophisticated settings white moth orchids, in pots or vases, will always be the perfect choice.

Hydrangea are the latest flowers to become truly realistic. While gardeners are generally familiar with the blue, pink or white varieties, silk hydrangeas can be found in far more colors. a search through flower catalogues will show that these are often true to life, green and deep red hydrangea do occur in nature, most real blooms change color quite a bit as they age. Hydrangea's are ideal for silk florists as their large, showy blooms can create beautiful arrangements, but they can also be divided and wired to add to other flowers. Hydrangeas can be sophisticated in red or white, while blue and pink varieties are ideal for cosy cottage style decor. Use deepest burgundy for Christmas centerpieces and pale blue wherever you have the need for blue flowers, they'll always look far better than other varieties in colors nature never thought of.

New realistic, real touch silk roses are nothing short of amazing. Botanically correct in their details many pause to touch and smell them. They are available in a wide range of colors and configurations and unlike most other flowers roses are suitable for almost every decor. But, while open, full blown roses are wonderful for county house arrangements or a cottage style, closed or bud roses are more suitable for a formal floral arrangement.

The most versatile of silk flowers, a white rose, looks wonderful alone in a small glass jar on your kitchen counter, as a summer table-center, or mixed with berries and ivy on your Christmas buffet display. White is a versatile color, but white silk flowers can also be painted using paints and markers. If you need to complete your room decor with a floral arrangement that picks up just the right shade from your drapes, consider tinting the edge of a white silk rose and creating your own, new variety.

Silk floral arrangements are ideal for every modern home. They need no maintenance, they wont leave water marks or drop dead petals, they just brighten corners and bring smiles.

About this Author

Jane Alexander Ogilvie is a self-confessed flower enthusiast and certified interior designer who enjoys everything to do with flowers, whether natural or artificial. She particularly enjoys searching out the best silk flowers and floral arrangements in order to make them available through  website Certain Style Flowers

Rose Arrangement The Professional Way

Roses are the most universally loved flowers.

They are used in all types of floral arrangements, from a single rose in a bud vase to large mass arrangements, centrepieces, gift boxes, tributes and wedding designs.

Roses look wonderful used in traditional and modern floral arrangements.

There are literally thousands of different varieties, ranging from tiny miniature roses to large full roses.

Roses come in almost every shade imaginable including white, pastels such as pale pink and soft peach, bright colours such as yellow and orange and deep tones such as dark burgundy.

Red roses are traditionally used to say "I love You".

Roses are ideal for weddings, because they come in so many shades, that it is relatively easy to match the colours worn by the bridal party. Roses are generally available year round. Roses can be in short supply in Winter, but this is not a problem, as they are flown in by air from other countries all around the world.

Roses are named after famous people, and it is considered a great honour to have a rose named after you.

People who have had a rose named after them include Queen Elizabeth, President J F Kennedy and Barbra Streisand.

Roses can be arranged in a vase on their own or with foliage such as leather fern, ivy or eucalyptus gum. Using foliage will make the arrangement look fuller and will help hold the rose stems in place.

When you receive a bunch of roses or pick roses from the garden, there are a few tips to help them stay fresh for the longest possible time.

Buy or pick roses when they are half open. Very tight buds may never open, and the petals may fall after a day or two with roses that are picked when they are too open.

Carefully remove any damaged outer petals by holding the base of the petal between your finger and thumb and gently lift the petal out.

If just the edges of a petal are damaged, you can carefully trim off the damaged part with a pair of sharp scissors, just inside the outer edge of the petal carefully following just inside the petal for a natural look.

The flowers will have the maximum life if you re - cut the stems under water. To do this, fill a deep bowl or sink with water. Hold the ends of the rose stems under water on an angle and cut about 5cm (2") from the ends of the stems on a slant with a sharp pair of cutters or a knife.
A small drop of water will cling to the end of the stems and help prevent air bubbles forming that can shorten the life of the flowers.

Remove the lower leaves from the bottom third of the stems. Leaves standing under the water line will pollute the water. It will become cloudy looking and the flowers will not last nearly so long.
Place the flowers immediately in a bucket half filled with water, preferably with a flower preservative added to the water, and allow them to have a long drink for at least 4-5 hours before arranging them.
Flower preservative are usually available at garden centres.

By using foliage such as leather fern or eucalyptus gum with the roses it will make the arrangement fuller and help hold the rose stems in position. Strip off the lower pieces of foliage that will come under the water line and give them a long drink in water before using them.

A vase, about (18-25cm)7-10 inches high, is a good size for an arrangement.

Half fill the vase with water and, if possible, add flower preservative to help cut down on bacteria.
Cut the foliage stems to the desired length. They should be at least one and a half times the height of the container and place the stems in the container crisscrossing them on an angle so the foliage tips extend over the edges of the container. Fill in the centre with foliage.

Add the roses cutting each one to the desired length. For good balance, if the flowers are different sizes, place the smallest ones to the outer edges and have the largest flowers in the centre.

Leave a space between the flowers heads, so they are not over crowded. Spray the arrangement lightly with water.

If using florist foam, soak it in water for a few minutes and secure it in the container with a plastic gaud or pot tape, crisscrossing it over the top of the container and down the sides of the container for about 5cm (2") and then arrange the roses in the foam following the same guidelines above .

Place the arrangement in a cool place away from direct sunlight, heater, draught or air conditioner.

After Care -Top up with water every couple of days.

Some of the roses will last longer than others, as they wither remove them.

When you only have few roses left, you can re-cut the ends of the stems and re-arrange them in a smaller container.

By following these simple care tips, you will have received the maximum amount of pleasure from your roses!

About this Author

Fay Chamoun is the principal of Floral Art School of Australia and International Floral Design School. For details of our Floristry Diploma Classess and Home Study Correspondence Courses please click onto http://www.floral-art-school.com.au

Fay Chamoun(c) Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. You are welcome to publish this article as long as you use it in its entirety with our live web site link and contact details intact.