How to get wonderful Roses

I've been a gardener for over 20 years and have many favorite plants that I try to grow like Daylilies,Coneflowers,and Shasta Daisies. I think the plant with the most colors,growing habits,and different varieties has to be the Rose. Roses come in almost all colors, Red,Yellow,White,Pink, even bi-colored varieties. Roses can be in the shape of a bush,climbing vine type,single long-stemmed and others. Roses can be wonderfully scented or have no scent at all.

Growing Roses in the Chicago area can be tricky with the lousy winters we have here.Roses are very finnicky, I use Rose cones for protection,but that has not stopped some of my Roses from dying. I guess you enjoy Roses for as long as you have them whether it be just for one season or 10 seasons plus like some of the Roses I have.

I have a few tips or tricks that I have learned over the years to help my Roses out every year. First off Roses are heavy feeders they need to be fertilized in early spring as soon as you seen new growth and in the middle of August If you wait till fall the tender new growth will get burned off by the first frost. I use a three in one product for Roses that contains fertilizer,insecticide and a fungicide. This product will help feed your roses, keep the bugs away,and hopefully prevent  leaf diseases from harming your Roses.

I like to add certain nutrients that are good for Roses like calcium,magnesium and sulfur. I always add a half cup to a cup of Epsom salts depending on the size of the rose bush and broken egg shells to the base of the plants. The epsom salts provide the magnesium and sulfur the egg shells provide the calcium. These micro-nutrients will not harm the plant,so It's worth a shot if it might improve the blooms and  the overall health of the plant.

My favorite roses right now are the knock out variety. These cold hearty bush type rose plants really work well in our climate. They have single and double bloom variety, I have seen yellow,red and pink varieties. These plants stay in bloom all season.Each year they come back even bigger if you don't trim them back. I probably own 10 knock out roses,I even plant them in pots for an instant display and at the end of the season I replant them in my back yard.

I really think every gardener has some roses,they provide such vibrant color to any garden and if you take care of them,hopefully you can enjoy their show for many seasons to come.