Ask anyone who has a green thumb about rose gardening and you may need a tape recorder to remember all the advice you’ll get! Almost anyone who has an interest in gardening with flowers and plants will eventually start talking about roses. It’s almost irresistible because of the beauty and scent of one of the most popular flowers on earth. A rose is in a class of its own. Rose gardening seems to always be subject of discussion and sometimes it may even create some controversy among some gardeners.

To the rose gardening crowd, their plants often become better ones and the most beautiful ones. Some gardeners treat their roses like family. I have some neighbors that literally talk to their rose plants to coax them into perfect health. Of course, I was curious about this so I asked them why they do this. Their answer was that roses must be fed and nourished and guided properly to bloom and flourish into their majestic beauty. I can’t disagree with this!

The one thing to remember is that rose gardening, like any other type of gardening, does involve getting your hands dirty. If you want to truly enjoy the experience, you must dig into the soil and heartily embrace your adventure. Yes you can wear gloves which I do most of the time but it is fun to get your hands dirty once in a while. My neighbors tell me that they find it gratifying when they work with the soil in the garden. I prefer to wear gloves because it is difficult to get the dirt out of my fingernails.

Some gardeners have told me that there is an art to rose gardening. To me, the experience can be as simple or as scientific as you so choose. What I do know is that you may want to stock up on things like mulch, a shovel, a hoe, weed-killer, a watering can or hose, and maybe Miracle Grow or plant food for your rose plants. Not to mention band-aids if your plants have thorns which most rose plants do have. You will need band-aids as you will get pricked at some point if you have the type of rose plant that produces thorns. It’s all part of the true rose gardening experience.

Roses have been known to contract diseases so do get to know your plants well to be able to recognize unhealthy changes in their leaves, color and overall health. Any living thing is susceptible to such and must be monitored. The good news is that there are various products in the market today to treat your roses when you see signs of disease on your plants. If in doubt, just cut a leaf off one of the rose plants and bring it to your nursery or any place that sell plants and ask for advice.

Before you purchase your rose plants, do some research and decide the type of roses you want. There are many varieties of roses and all require different care. Also keep in mind that a rose that grows well in the northern region may struggle if planted in the south. So where you live does matter when planning your rose garden. Visit your local nurseries and ask questions about the care, maintenance and best roses that will thrive in the area where you live. You can also do some research on the Internet, your local library or buy a book on roses.

When in doubt, just ask your friends or neighbors for advice on rose gardening. Friends are usually your best source for good information on this. Like any other project, creating a rose garden requires some planning and work but the enjoyment you will get from having beautiful roses will be worth the effort.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

AOL.com Video - How to Protect Outdoor Flower Pots in the Winter
Beginners flower gardening help? - Yahoo! Answers
AOL.com Search Video - Flower Gardening
May gardening checklist - MSN Real Estate
Should I wait for flower gardening or not? - Yahoo! Answers
The dirty dozen: 12 plants to avoid - MSN Real Estate

Technorati Tags: Gardening, gardening with roses, rose gardening, rose varieties, Roses

Time is moving rapidly and before you know it spring will be here. The time is now to start preparing the soil in your garden. Soil preparation is the most important step of spring planting because without good soil your plants will not thrive. Many gardeners, including me, learned this lesson the hard way. As a first time gardener and not knowing what I was doing, I skipped the soil preparation step for my flower garden and lost many plants. Needless to say, this was an expense that I didn’t need not to mention the disheartening experience this caused.

Start by cleaning your garden site thoroughly by removing stumps, dead leaves or plants, sticks, rocks and old mulch. If you have any weeds, get rid of them. Once your garden area is clean, use a tiller and turn the soil to promote drainage. Get some organic material and mix it with the soil in your garden. Organic material can be as simple as getting some peat moss, compost or aged manure. I usually buy compost and it works very well in all my gardens. You may also want to add some plant food to the organic matter and mix it all together with the soil.

If you have drainage problems as a result of having hard soil, get some gypsum and added to the soil. This is a natural product that will improve your soil by flushing out salt buildups that can cause drainage problems in your flower garden. There is another product you can use called perlite. Have you noticed those white specks when you buy potting soil? That is perlite which is an organic material to help keep hard soil from compacting. It also increases the oxygen level down to the root of your plants.

Once your garden soil is ready, go ahead and buy your plants. Before you start planting, set all the new plants in the garden on top of the soil. Take a good look and make sure that you are happy with the look of your garden, the color scheme of the plants and overall design. What you can do is plant taller plants as a backdrop or against a wall. Plant medium size plants in front of the tall ones and short plants in front of the medium ones. This will give you a very nice design as all your plants will be visible in your flower garden.

As stated before, your soil preparation is the most important step for spring flower gardening. While we know that the soil preparation step is essential at any time of the year, it is a must for spring gardening. Planning your spring flower gardening and preparing the soil properly will ensure that you will have strong, healthy and gorgeous looking plants all summer long.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Horticulture encyclopedia topics | Reference.com
Recession grows interest in seeds vegetable gardening ...
Twitter / Isuru Hettiarachchi: Flower gardening at night.
AOL.com Video - How to Create Flower Arrangements
Flower Gardening Tips : How to Grow Morning Glory (Ipomoea ...
BBC - Chelsea Flower Show 2011 - M & G Garden - Bunny Guinness

Technorati Tags: compost, Gardening, gypsum, peat moss, perlite, spring gardening

It is difficult for gardeners living in colder areas to maintain healthy plants and shrubs during the winter months. But in reality, snow is actually good for your garden and it protects them during the winter months. Snow acts as an insulator to your plants and shrubs to keep the roots warm so leave it alone and don’t remove it.

A snow covered garden means that plants remain moist and are protected from all the freezing temperatures. When it is freezing cold out, snow is actually warmer than the temperature of the air and this protects your plants and maintains healthy roots. Also, all that snow on your flower garden helps to lock in moisture on the roots of your plants before the top layer freezes allowing the plants to have enough water until spring arrives.

All that snow covering your plants is providing a steady temperature for all your bulbs, shrubs, trees, and perennials. One problem that I had with my flower garden when I lived in New York was that when the ground began to thaw, some plants and bulbs just came right out of the ground. If this happens, just push them back into the ground. The following year, I covered the garden with a thick coat of mulch in the fall and that extra protection stopped the problem with plants coming up from the ground.

Did you know that most of the damage done to your garden is not from the snow? Damage to your plants is actually caused by ice, freezing temperatures and wind. But the damage is caused by these is usually done above ground so the roots are protected. Lots of shrubs and trees suffer from cracking and splitting when they get hit by freezing temperatures and ice forms.

So remember that a snow covered garden is good for your plants and bulbs and it is best to leave it alone. If trees and shrubs become frozen as a result of freezing temperatures, leave it them alone too. Trying to scrape ice from them may break all the branches and create more problems. Also, be careful when salting near your garden or flower beds. The chemicals from de-icers can poison your plants. Remove the snow near you garden using a shovel to protect the plants from harmful chemicals.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Need Help and ideas with flower bed? - Yahoo! Answers
Home & Garden Topics from Answers.com
Flower Names | Reference.com
Town of Leesburg : Flower and Garden Festival
Tips for Practical and Successful Flower Gardening - Yahoo! Voices ...
Flower Gardening - Topic - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Technorati Tags: Bulbs, Gardening, Perennials, shrubs, snow covered garden, trees, winter plant protection

Now that most of the main chores are done in your flower garden and winter months are rapidly approaching, it is time to add some color to your garden. There is no reason for your garden to look empty and dull when there are many varieties of winter loving plants that you can add to your garden. By now you should have planted some chrysanthemums which are considered a fall flowering plant for your flower garden. But it doesn’t have stop there as you can also start adding some winter flowering plants to your garden.

Camellias come to mind as a favorite winter flowering plant that you can add to your garden. One preferred winter blooming camellia is called japonica and as the name infers, it is native to Japan but widely seen in Korea and China as well. It is also the official state flower of Alabama and also called the rose of winter. Although many hybrids have been developed from the camellia japonica, one of the most beautiful of all camellias is the Alba Plena. The flowers are pure white and extend 3 to 4 inches across. It blooms early winter and can continue blooming into spring. (photo courtesy: wikipedia)

You can also plant American winterberry (Ilex verticillata) and it will add gorgeous color to your garden with its bright red fruit that only ripe in the winter. The American winterberry is a species of holly that is native to eastern North America in the US and southeast of Canada and south to Alabama. During the summer months, the winterberry plant has large green leaves and it blooms with flowers bearing up to eight petals each. When the cool weather approaches, the winterberry will begin to loose its foliage and the plant will display a splash of bright red berries. Those bare branches covered with red berries will add much needed color to your flower garden.

If you don’t want to plant flowers in your garden during the cold weather, plant some in containers inside the house and place them in your window sill. The paperwhite narcissus is a gorgeous plant that is easy to plant in containers and it blooms during the winter. The white flowers come up in bunches and are very fragrant. It is best grown as a house plant and you can force it to bloom around mid December. Unlike other narcissus, paperwhite does not require chilling to promote blooms. The bulbs begin to grow as soon as you plant them and flowers appear in about 3 to 4 weeks. Remember to buy your bulbs from a reputable company like Breck’s for the best quality. Just follow the instructions that are included with your purchase and you will have beautiful flowers properly displayed on your window sill during the winter months. (photo courtesy: wikipedia)

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

History of gardening - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
Jasmine the fragrant harbinger of spring - latimes.com
High above Manhattan a vegetable garden grows – Eatocracy ...
Flower gardening tips on Squidoo
Public Gardens of Western Connecticut - NYTimes.com
Chelsea Flower Show - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Technorati Tags: camellias, Chrysanthemums, flower garden, Gardening, Narcissus, winterberry holly