Rose Lust

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This is the time of year where I tuck my roses in for the winter.  I usually do my major pruning on New Year’s Day but I wasn’t home this year (since I was off staring at the ocean) so my clean up efforts will have to wait until this weekend.

I like to cut them back but not too severely.  I’ve learned that here in the relatively mild winters of California that they don’t need it and it affects their growth the next season.  My rule of thumb is to cut them in half and shape them so there is a nice, sturdy frame for their Spring growth.

I also rake up all the dropped leaves and petals, weed the bed and cut back the perennials I have mixed in.  Then give them a good dormant spraying and then I can get to the fun part.

Which is looking at rose catalogs and pretending I have a acres of sunny, loamy soil to plant in. 

The best place in our area for roses in Regan’s Nursery in Fremont.  I’m a little miffed at them because the last time I placed an order they didn’t tell me when they shipped and they sat in the back room at our post office for two weeks and were all mildewy by the time I got them.  If I had known they were coming I would have been on the lookout for a package.  But despite this flaw in their ordering system they do have an incredible selection of bareroot roses. 

If you are a procrastinator you can go to the nursery in person later on in the Spring and buy potted roses. 

There a million books on the subject but mostly I treat them as picture books.  The one book I did read from cover to cover when I first started growing roses is Ray Reddell’s Growing Good Roses.  Very informative, especially for a beginner and lots of inspiring pictures. 

And this is why I wish I retained any of my high school French – L’Hay-les-Roses – I may just have to go to France to check it out for myself.