“Cold Climate Roses”
Most roses will grow just about anywhere, and in any type of climate. Certain roses do not function very well in cold climates, but will grow just as well in any other.
Rugosas
Hybrid Teas are not however, a cold climate rose. They must be grown in a warmer climate like Florida. They simply don’t have the necessary winter protection that some cold climate flowers have. Read more…
Bonsai Life Histories is a detailed absorbing insight into the transformation of original plant material into exquisite bonsai trees. These 50 dramatic stories show how one bonsai expert has created “something out of nothing,” recording the life histories of over 50 trees, both in photographs and descriptions that reveal the rewarding process of tending bonsai to maturity.
This instructive and useful book also includes information on: – origins of bonsai – getting started – what makes a good/bad bonsai – bonsai style – styling, pruning, refinement – tools, repotting, watering, feeding – training techniques – finding suitable plants – seasonal planner – guide to pruning and maintenance tasks through the year – bonsai in the garden – displaying bonsai – exhibiting bonsai – pests and diseases – glossary of terms Read more…
“Watering Roses”
Watering your roses can be a tricky thing. It is one of the most important aspects of taking care of your roses. Roses need almost as much water to stay healthy as people do. Of course there are quite a few things that must be considered before you water your roses. They are as follows:
- Like people, roses need more water during the hotter weather than during the colder ones. Heat makes the soil dry faster and the roses get “thirstier”.
- Keep in mind that even during the rainier times, roses still need to be watered with fresh water because rain alone cannot provide the right amount of moisture for your roses.
- You want to water your roses in a manner that goes deep enough into the surrounding soil so that it reaches the roots. Try going approximately 45cm deep.
- You do not want to water the petals directly or the canes because it can cause fungal disease in your roses.
- To help you lower the risk of your roses getting diseases, mulch is a nice way to keep the soil moist, without allowing all of the fungal problems that too much moisture can cause.
- Watering your roses in the morning also helps to dry the dew off of the leaves.
- Once your roses are fully established, you should water them once a week. You should do it twice a week if its in the hotter months.
“Healthy Plant”
When it comes to getting started with your garden, you have two choices; planting seeds, or buying entire plants. Both have their own benefits. If you plant seeds and care for them every day, you will find it is a much more rewarding 
experience when you have a full, healthy plant. However, this method is a lot more risky. I can’t tell you how many seeds I’ve planted and never seen any trace of whatsoever.
If you choose to buy the plant from a nursery and install it in your garden, it reduces a lot of the work involved in making it healthy. However, I have found in the past that many incompetent nursery workers will absolutely ruin the future of the plant by putting certain chemicals or fertilizers in. I have adapted to this incompetence by learning to choose the healthiest plant of the bunch. Here I will discuss some of the techniques I use in my screening process for plants.
It may sound superficial, but the one thing you need to check for on your prospective plants is how nice they look. As far as plants go, you can truly judge a book by its cover. If a plant has been treated healthily and has no diseases or pests, you can almost always tell by how nice it looks. If a plant has grown up in improper soil, or has harmful bugs living in it, you can tell from the holey leaves and wilted stems.
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“Winter”
Some people believe that when the weather starts getting colder and the leaves start to fall, it is time to put away the gardening tools and wait until next spring to work on their garden again. Wrong. Winter is an important time to maintain 
your garden’s health and assure yourself a good crop for next year. You may think that might take to long to prepare your garden, but the truth is that it takes less than one day to prepare your garden for the upcoming winter.
When the nighttime temperatures drop to less than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit for more than four days in a row, or frost is forecasted for your area (usually around late October or November) you know its time to begin preparing your garden. You should begin by evaluating your garden design, check which plants grew well in the past season, and which plants did not do well. Fall is a good time to decide which plants will remain in you garden next year, and which ones should go.
It is also a good time to decide which new plants you want to grow. To make your garden more colorful and healthy, be sure only to plant the more hardy plants during the fall so that they can withstand the winter. Some plants that will do fine being planted in fall are: rudbeckia, Aster Novi-belgii, Anemone Japonica, panicle hyandea, endive, escarole, and Brussels sprouts. You can find all of these and more in gardening magazines or your local nursery.
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