Newfoundland Horticultural Society

 A ROSE GROWER'S PRIMER – VI

by  Harry McGee ©National-Roses-Canada 2009  

In the first five segments of this primer, we examined (1) how to match the time you have available with the kinds of roses you choose to adopt, (2) where to position them and how to give them a deluxe planting, (3) how to winterize the tender ones, (4) how to feed, water and prune them, and (5) how to deal with disease and pests. At last, in this edition we arrive at the point all the preceding advice was intended to enhance - the enjoyment of your own beautiful roses!

Remember why you chose to grow roses in the first place. What flowering plant will produce blossoms from May [June in NL] to November? What flowering plant comes in literally hundreds of forms - appearing with anything from five to a hundred and five petals per bloom? What flowering plant will continue from year to year in its place? What flowering plant will produce a fragrance that lingers in the memory so permanently that you automatically place your nose near it?

 The creeping periwinkle will bloom for a longer period than the rose. The peony will produce as many petals as the rose. The peony and the iris and the lilac will outlive the rose. And the violet and the lily and the lilac will outperform the rose in memorable scent. But no other flowering plant has all those attributes. The rose will go on giving enjoyment from month to month year after year. It will yield the most bloom and scent per square metre of garden, per unit of time, of any flower on earth.

 How may you optimize all that enjoyment?

 Part of the enjoyment is the minimizing of the work involved in caring for the rose plants, but we have discussed how to do that in previous issues. This piece will examine what options you have to derive the most smiles from the types you have chosen.

 Some like to savour roses alone - away from people distractions. Early morning is the ideal time to do that - when the dawn has coloured the sky - well before competing odours like coffee or bacon drift into the garden from the kitchen or neighbours. The dew is still on turf and flower, and the world is nicely muffled. The five petalled singles are just opening their landing pads to expose their pollen to the sun and the bees. It is still too cool for the volatile oils to produce much perfume. However the quiet and the sunrise and the unfurling roses nesting in beds or nodding from bowers bring a sense of peace and well-being that cannot be matched. It is an inspiration.

Sharing with others may alternate the private rose experience. Invite one or more friends to your rose garden in the evening. The perfume from the day's sunshine is still hanging over the garden, and it is easy to walk about without dew wetting feet. I once had a surprise visit from an out of town visitor who was brought to the garden by a neighbour. She saw the blooms just as twilight approached and a full moon was rising in the east. Soon the moonlight was augmented by the low level lighting within arches and arbours and directed at sculptures so that it was still easy to walk about or sit on benches to appreciate various vistas. The reflections in the pool added mystery. Pervading all was the perfume of roses and lilies. She was enchanted and had to be almost dragged from the garden when the neighbour thought it time to go home.

 Perhaps the most conventional way to share roses is to invite a friend or friends to lunch or dinner. Whether the repast be relaxed or pleasantly formal, whether placemats or linen tablecloth, whether every-day or best china, there are roses to match. For the relaxed event, it is appropriate to select a few roses of different character and arrange them airily in a small vase so they don't interrupt the view across the table. The roses should match the known preferences of the guests. For the more elaborate encounter, there is nothing to compare with a one perfect rose mounted in a crystal or silver bud vase. It is the ultimate compelling statement. Friends will never forget it.

A third way to share your roses is to participate in a rose show, either judged or not judged. Sadly, rose shows are becoming less and less popular. The reasons vary but a common thread running through them is associated with stress or more often unpleasantness. In these pages [Roses-Canada] Bill Grant of California wrote how he was turned off rose shows because of zealots insisting on one thing or another. Another downer is complication. Look for a show that has more regard for exposition than for competition. Find a show that matches your expectations and enter some of your proudest blooms just for fun. It is a broadening experience to see the roses others have grown. It can cause you to try different cultivars and hone your cultivation skills.

Whether you cut a rose for the table or for the show bench, you need to know how to do it most advantageously: when to cut and how to harden off the rose so it remains presentable for a long time. These techniques have appeared from time to time in the pages [Roses-Canada] you are reading.

Try holding on to your roses with colour photography. Freeze endearing moments of a favourite rose as it passes through its brief existence and is lost forever. Run through the last few years of this journal's covers to see what is possible. Catch the essence of the rose in the pearly morning light before the hard light of day destroys the subtleties of the image.

Would I startle you if I suggested writing about your roses? If you haven't tried it, do so. Let the words come freely as your thoughts tumble from your consciousness. If you are masterful with words, the prose may slip into poetry. Keep it, improve it twenty times, file it, or send it to Roses-Canada.

Finally the supreme way to enjoy your rose blossoms is to give them away! The person receiving the gift may be surprised or even astonished, but I have never yet met one who refused to accept it. I tend to forget plants or blooms I have given. But it seems to be a law of nature that the recipient retains total recall. It’s amazing how people remind me of the time when so and so. The rose has passed into compost years ago, but the rose is still alive.                    By permission of the author  .   .   .  HM