Favorite Red Flowers

Red is the most powerful color.  If you put it near your front door, you will quickly tire of it.   A red hedge of roses or poinsettias looks good when you are moving, whether down a path or down a r...

It’s a Shame Gardeners Can Only Live Once

It’s really a shame that gardeners, like everyone else, have just one life to live.  For focusing on bringing more beauty into the world, you would think that gardeners deserve two or three lives at ...

History of Knockout Roses

The most popular rose in America, known as ‘KnockOut,’ was created by William Radler in his basement, just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  For fifteen years, Radler labored alone, patiently nurt...

Heirloom Tea Roses

It’s really a shame that gardeners, like everyone else, have just one life to live.  For focusing on bringing more beauty into the world, you would think that gardeners deserve two or three lives at ...

Musk Roses and Black Flowers

I’m in love with a ballerina. A ‘Ballerina’ rose, that is. ‘Ballerina’ is a hybrid musk rose and hybrid musks, for reasons beyond comprehension, are seldom seen in the nursery trade. Hybrid musks are...

Roses, Cocoa Mulch, and Turmeric

In response to a query posed in a recent column regarding favorite rose varieties and their care, I received the following response from Scott Corwin, who gardens in Glendora, and whose roses were bl...

The Decline of Roses

As Valentine’s Day approaches, roses should definitely be on the mind of you and me. Or maybe not. Roses are not what it used to be.  In 1990, there were 50 million field grown roses in the United St...

Jerusalem Roses

There was a time in Jerusalem when, with the notable exception of roses, cultivation of plants was forbidden.  2000 years ago, when the Holy Temple still stood within Jerusalem’s walls, no gardens co...

Drought Tolerant Roses

There appears to be a deep-seated prejudice among drought tolerant plant advocates and it’s about time that this prejudice was exposed for all the world to see.  I am talking a prejudice against rose...

Epsom Salts are Good for your Roses

“I have five rose bushes that I planted approximately seven years ago. The soil is hard clay and, before planting, I dug out holes 2 inches deep and 2 inches wide for each rose bush. I used a m...