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!

Thoughtful Gardening - Flower Gardening - Gardens - YouTube
AAnnounce : Message: Learning To Grow- Flower Gardening For ...
Articles about Flower Garden - New York Times
Gardening chores help ensure healthy plants - The Washington Post
Tips for Practical and Successful Flower Gardening - Yahoo! Voices ...
Twitter / Garden FurnitureSets: Flower Gardening Tips: Flo ...

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

Valentine’s Day is around the corner and it is time to show our loved ones how much we appreciate and love them. The most common way to do this is by giving our loved ones flowers. Just so you know a bit of history behind this day, it was named after some Christian martyr named Valentine and goes back to 500 AD.

Most people believe that Valentine’s Day which is celebrated on February 14th each year is a commemoration of love and affection between intimate companions. And while that is true, I also believe that it is a day to celebrate and show love and affection to all family members. For example, on Valentine’s Day I send my mother and sister flowers just to let them know that they are loved.

Now all florists are not made equal so choose carefully. While I believe that all florists do try to send nicely made bouquets of flowers most of the time, there are others that go above and beyond the call of duty. And for this reason I love and use Teleflora and do all my ordering online. Somehow this online florist carries some of the most beautiful and unique vases I’ve seen and the flowers they send are very good quality.

Along with flowers, some people also give chocolates or fancy candy and some just send out greeting cards expressing their love. In the 1980’s, the diamond industry began promoting Valentine’s Day as a special occasion for giving jewelry and that practice is very big in the US. But according to a friend of mine who is a florist, flowers is still the most desirable gift on Valentine’s Day.

So remember that time goes fast and Valentine’s Day is almost here and it is time to let your loved ones know how much you love them. Of course, showing love should be a daily practice but it is nice to be recognized on special occasions. And I will be a happy camper when I get red roses from Teleflora and a box of chocolate candies. (photo courtesy: Teleflora)

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

Off Topic Flower Gardening - Groups - Yahoo
Washingtonpost.com: Live Online
High Desert Flower Gardening? - Yahoo! Answers
MyEnchantingSilkGarden.com Promotes Lasting Floral Beauty ...
Springtime Outdoor Flower Gardening For Beginners
Shakespeare garden: Definition from Answers.com

Technorati Tags: flowers, red roses, Roses, Teleflora, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day cholcolates

Our days are getting warmer signaling the coming of summer and it is time to get our gardens in shape. There is a lot of work ahead for me as we had the coldest winter on record here in Florida this year. As a result, most of my flower gardens died and I just finished cleaning up all the dead plants, shrubs and some trees. Of course this is an extra expense that I don’t need but it has to be done. I need to buy lots of new plants and shrubs for my gardens but will be careful to stay on budget.

What I plan to do to save some money is to shop around for bargains at our local garden places and also change the landscape of the gardens and plant less than what I had last year. I am grateful that my rose garden survived the cold weather and the roses are coming back so no need to make changes there. For the rest of the gardens, here is what I will do and you can do this too and save some money.

Buy lots of Ground Cover Plants

Last year, I had many different species of small flowers planted in various areas of the gardens. This year, I will buy lots of ground cover of the same flower and plant them to cover large areas. Buying the same plant will save me some money as opposed to buying different species that are all different prices. Annuals are bountiful now and add gorgeous color to any garden so I will get a bunch of these keeping in mind that one Petunia plant can cover up to four feet of ground in the garden. The best thing about Petunias is that they require very little care.

Buy Flowering Gardening Herbs

Plant flowering gardening herbs mixed with other flowers. I will buy rosemary plants for my gardens and benefit from its beautiful flower and also use it in the kitchen for cooking. Definitely a way to save some money! Rosemary plants are very fragrant and have pretty violet blue flowers. Since Rosemary comes as a trailing plant, I can use it as a ground cover in some of the bare areas of my garden. There is an upright version of Rosemary but it grows up to 4 feet tall so be sure to plant it away from the smaller plants in your garden. Basil is another flowering herb that can be planted in your garden in between your other flowers.

Buy small Flowering Shrubs or Trees

On one of my gardens, I will buy a small flowering tree or an evergreen shrub and planted in the center of that garden. I will then buy a contrasting color ground cover to fill in the rest of the bare area around the shrub. Don’t do this in your garden in front of your home as it may diminish the view from your windows. This one garden I have is on the side of the house and away from the front windows. This will save me some money as I will spend approximately $20.00 for the shrub and maybe $15.00 for ground cover. Buying a variety of all different types of plants to cover that garden will cost much more than this. The possibilities are endless on how you can have a gorgeous garden and stay within budget to save money. So go ahead and experiment with some of these ideas and more importantly, have fun working on your garden.

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

Where to buy uncommon seeds and seedlings - latimes.com
Coneflower | Define Coneflower at Dictionary.com
Embrace the Chill: Plant Bulbs - WSJ.com
At The Chelsea Flower Show Pictures - CBS News
Fall Flower Gardening - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
English garden | Define English garden at Dictionary.com

Technorati Tags: Flowering Herbs, Gardening Money Savings, Ground Cover, Petunias, Roses, shrubs, trees

Most of us feel the fresh air and warming temperatures signaling the coming of spring and want to get out and start gardening. We also know that it has been a long, miserable winter and look with anticipation to those gorgeous spring days ahead. You are probably wondering why I am talking about a long winter when I live in the sunshine state of Florida. Well, let me tell you that we had the coldest winter on record here in central Florida this year. With two very cold spells that brought down our temperatures to the mid-twenties, all my flower gardens are basically dead with the exception of roses that seem to be coming back slowly. All my other plants look dead so I have lots of gardening to do this year.

During the month of March, most gardeners want to start planting new flowers. But be careful and watch your weather patterns carefully before you plant any new flowers. If you live in a colder region, be sure that dangers of frost are gone before planting anything new in you garden. If it is still cold in your area, just go out to your garden and start doing some clean up and get rid of plants that didn’t survive the winter. If you have snow in your flower garden that is beginning to melt, you can start removing it from the roots of the plants carefully to allow the sun to reach the roots and promote growth. Don’t do any cutting for now, just remove the snow.

In warmer climates like mine, it is time to go out there and start gardening. In my case, I need to first assess how many of my gardens survived the cold winter spells we had and start cleaning up all the dead plants. So far, it looks like my roses survived and I see some growth especially with my knock out roses. I am grateful for this as I have 16 of these planted and don’t want to loose them. The hibiscus shrubs look dead and I am surprised because hibiscus is usually very hardy. This week, I will cut the hibiscus short and wait to see if new growth begins within a few weeks. It is really sad for me to see my beautiful gardens so dead and lifeless but we have no control of weather patterns.

Once I clean out all the dead plants in my flower gardens, it is time to buy new plants and start planting. I will most likely start replacing the flower beds around the rose garden and buy colorful pansies and pentas. The next task will be to get rid of all the tropical shrubs that are dead and decide what I will plant in that area. One idea here might be to look for shrubs that survive cold weather and Indian Hawthorne comes to mind. Not sure if my clematis vines will make it as they look dead right now. What I will do here is to cut them back and wait and see if new growth starts.

Yes, my work is cut out for me this year with my gardening and it is time to get started. And you can do the same, so go out there and start gardening too. Also remember that if you want to plant summer flowering bulbs, the time to order them is now. Summer flowering bulbs ship in the spring and you can get a great selection at Breck’s. This is the company that I use for all my flowering bulbs and love doing business with them because of their great quality bulbs from Holland.

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

Garden Plants & Flowers: Flora Gardening Ideas For Curb Appeal ...
SiteSeer Online gardening guides Playing in digital dirt - CNN
Flower Gardening - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
How to Start a Flower Garden
Flowering fern | Define Flowering fern at Dictionary.com
Flower Gardening Tips : How to Grow Delphinium - YouTube

Technorati Tags: Garden Spring Cleaning, Gardening, Hibiscus, Pansies, Roses, Summer Flowering Bulbs