Category: Roses

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The Rose Parade in California

Rose parade 2010 Pasadena, Calif. by Sunriserjay

A dream of this GardenLady has been to one day go to the Rose Parade in California. It sounds like the most beautiful parade in the world. I want to see in real time so many flowers floating by in one parade; how floats can even by made of flowers. This is one parade, I believe, that seeing on TV can do justice to it.

horn of plenty by donielle

A master maker of rose parade floats is Fiesta Parade Floats (see here), a company that has a “67 percent winning rate for their floats averaged over the past twenty years”. I would love to be a volunteer working on one of their floats.

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Fall Planting


Bulbs. by don.wing45

Everyone knows that fall is the time to plant many of the bulbs that will bloom in the spring. All the stores are now carrying daffodils, tulips and other bulbs and catalogs are sending out the bulbs you ordered this spring. But fall is also the time to plant other plants for next year’s garden.

TheGardenLady just received a mailing from one of her favorite online rose companies The Antique Rose Emporium   reminding me that fall is probably the best time to plant roses if you live in zone 6 or warmer. Roses planted in the fall acclimate quicker and perform better the following spring. Also, this is a great time to get plant bargains especially in your local nurseries.  Friends of mine have found wonderful roses at discount prices at some of the big box stores that sell plants. Continue reading “Fall Planting”

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What’s Happening in TheGardenLady’s Garden

Pink Crape Myrtle by BFS Man

Since it is so hot outside, it is difficult even for TheGardenLady to want to be out among my flowers. I do spend a few hours daily watering the flowers, so I am out either early in the morning before or just when the sun comes up or close to eight in the evening when the sun is going down. And it is then that I admire my flowers. What is especially pretty now?

I think the Crape Myrtles- Lagerstroemia are stunning right now. Mine is almost completely covered with flowers. Since my crape myrtle is the shape of a shrub, not a tree, I have flowers from the bottom all the way to the top.

Next to the Crape Myrtle, my Brugmansia is starting to show off. I counted ten trumpet-sized flowers open this morning. Since I give away rooted branches in the fall, I try to keep in touch with the babies. One grandchild of my Brugmansia has been blooming its head off for its owners. Only about 3 ft. tall, it has been having at least 18 flowers at one time. Its owner gives it lots of Osmocote – which seems to be the brand of fertilizer that many nurseries seem to use.  See here.

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Rose Thorns Can Be Dangerous

Rose thorns by DRB62

TheGardenLady received this question from Sandie.

Funny thing happened to me today. I was pruning roses and got a brief stick in the knuckle over my pinkie by a very large thorn. I bled a little, but being a tough gal, I went on with my task at hand. A few hours later, I have slight swelling, but can hardly move my finger. It is extremely painful up the pinkie and down the outside of my palm. Any idea what’s caused this?

There is nothing funny about getting an infection. I hope you go to your physician immediately for him or her to be sure the infected site is cleaned properly and to give you some proper medicine, if required. This is a warning for all gardeners. Even if you are a “tough gal” or guy, when working in a garden there is always the possibility of picking up germs or bacteria. That is why one should always wear gloves when you are touching your plants or the soil.

For other posts by TheGardenLady on getting pricked by a rose thorn see here and here.

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Unique Gift: Create Your Own Rose and Name It

Would you like this rose named for you?

Have you ever wanted to give the perfect gift to someone? Or have you ever wanted to honor someone special in the perfect way?

A group from Princeton, NJ, wrote to TheGardenLady with such a request. They wanted to honor a beloved mayor with a rose named after her. Where could they possibly find a rose breeder who would create a new rose that would be forever known and sold with the name of the person honored?

This is the Jalgoldie rose TheGardenLady would love named after her

TheGardenLady found the perfect rose hybridizer who will create and name this unique gift for you as he has for people like Loretta Lynn and other luminaries.  The rose hybridizer is Brad Jalbert of Select Roses in South Langley, Canada.  Brad has introduced more than 65 new roses to the world rose market (the two photos on this post are of roses that he created).  He has also co-written two books on roses Roses for British Columbia and Roses for Washington and Oregon as well as written many articles for rose bulletins in  Canada and the US.

You can learn more about Brad Langley’s work by going on line to his website and you can visit his large display garden in Langley, British Columbia, which shows and sells high quality garden roses and is a demonstration garden for the Canadian Rose Society.

Select Roses is able to ship only the custom named roses to most countries around the world.

If any readers purchase a rose named for someone special, please let TheGardenLady blog know about it with photos of your unique, new rose and also the name of the new rose with a description of that rose.

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Epsom Salt – Great for your Body and for your Plants

CreativeTools.se – PackshotCreator – Epsom salt by Creative Tools

After a hard days work in the garden, do you fill a warm bath for yourself and add Epsom salt to the water to soak those sore muscles? It is a nice treat to refresh yourself. According to the Epsom Salt Council this is a healthful remedy that people have known about for years. But it doesn’t seem like enough people know of its health benefits.

And even if you have known about Epsom salt as a treat for your body, did you know that it is also an excellent nutrient for your plants? Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, a mineral humans and plants need to survive and grow. It is used by commercial growers around the world and “the National Gardening Association confirmed that roses fertilized with Epsom Salt grow bushier and produce more flowers, and it also makes pepper plants grow larger than those treated only with commercial fertilizer. ” (see here)

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Caring for Knockout Roses Down South

Raindrops on Double Pink Knock Out rose in November garden by pawightm

TheGardenLady received several questions about Knock Out roses.

Here’s a question from Dan about caring for Knock Out roses in the winter.

How do you care for Knock Out roses in the winter in Tallahassee, Florida. Can I put hay around and cover the up with trash can or do they need sun light in the winter? They got new buds on them now.  How do you keep them looking good for next summer?

According to Conard-Pyle, a company that specializes in Knock Out Roses, Knock Out® Roses shouldn’t need much protection at all in winter in the south. There is no need to cover them up with a trash can. They would benefit from a hard trim once every two to three years. They should be trimmed ½ to 1/3 of the way back just before they begin to leaf out – this would probably be around mid February in the Tallahassee region.

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Best New Plants of 2011

Livin’ Easyâ„¢ 1996 AARS Winner

This is the time of year that the best new plants of the New Year are being announced: shrubs, trees annuals, perennials and vegetables. There is plenty of time to read about the plants to see if any will fit into your garden.

The Yellow Rose by AllHarts

All American Rose Selections has announced the 2011 roses of the year.  See here.  I love yellow roses so I was so pleased to see that one of the roses is yellow (see here) and if you want to see the names and types of all the AARS winners see here. 

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Wine and Roses Weigela

Wine & Roses Weigela by Cheezylu

TheGardenLady received a question from someone named Nicky who lives near TheGardenLady and who has seen TheGardenLady’s garden.

You have a beautiful specimen in your garden that is in bloom with lovely pink blossoms and dark leaves (reddish). It has the general size of a flowering almond, but seems to be a different specimen. May I ask what this is.

The plant that Nicky was asking about is the Weigela called Wine and Roses.

The Weigela is a pretty shrub that makes an excellent hedge or it can be a specimen plant, as TheGardenLady has. Besides the pretty flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies are supposed to like, Wine and Roses is especially interesting because the of the purple color of the leaves. The plant was named after the German scientist Christian Ehrenfried Weigel and doesn’t seem to have a common name.  See here.

The Weigela is an easy shrub to raise. It will tolerate some shade, though Wine and Roses prefers sun to get the darkest purple leaf color. It is a low maintenance shrub that seems to have few pest or disease problems and is deer resistant. The deer had nibbled on my Wiegela when it was a baby, but doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything now that it is larger. Still to be on the safe side, I give all my plants a spray of Liquid Fence.  See here.

The Wiegela is easy to propagate by stem cuttings, so if you know anyone who has the plant, ask for a branch or two to start one for yourself.  See here.

Wine and Roses Weigela by Rosie’s Whimsy

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Roses in TheGardenLady’s Garden

Welcome to TheGardenLady’s garden. I will be posting some photos of plants in my garden. I had hoped to send you photos as each plant flowered. But the season is passing quickly and so many of the flowers, like my Jacob’s Ladder-Polemonium and bleeding hearts-dicentra have already finished blooming in my yard. So I am posting photos of some of my roses.

This year TheGardenLady’s roses are blooming their heads off. They are so lush with flowers that the branches can barely support them.


There are two Knock Out Rose Rosa ‘Radrazz” and the Pink Knock Out Rose, Rosa ‘Radcon’.  I have had these roses for a few years. The last two years I have pruned these two rose bushes in early spring. I mulch the bed they are in with aged horse manure. I see that the roses get water if there is a heat wave or drought. When I water I let the hose run near the roots and soak the roots. I do not spray water over the leaves.

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