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.

The only problem I have ever had is that I do get Japanese Beetles. Last year was the worst year for me with the Japanese Beetles but there still weren’t that many. I just handpicked the beetles off the roses. I don’t use a Japanese Beetle trap with pheromones because they would attract every Japanese beetle in the area. The Japanese beetle can really damage the flowers. For the last two years, when the Knock Out Roses didn’t have too many flowers after the first flush of blooms, I added Schultz’s Bloom Plus to the watering can, and following directions on the bottle, I mix the fertilizer with water then water around the roots of the plants; this is in addition to watering the roots with the hose.

In the same bed is a rose called Livin’ Easy sold by Star roses.  See here.  I love this rose. It’s shape and color are magnificent. I find that it has a faint fragrance – though the literature calls it a moderate fragrance. I have not had this rose as long as the Knock Out Roses.  Livin’Easy is a floribunda rose carrying the Meilland Star Rose brand.  See here.

Like the Knock Out roses, this Livin’ Easy rose is also a rose of great disease resistance. I have had mine for three years and not had any disease problems. It, too, is covered with flowers this year. It, too, is mulched with horse manure. TheGardenLady has not used any Schultz’s fertilizer on it yet because I like the roses to establish themselves first before forcing the heavy blooms.