January is inventory month. Take a good look at your roses. Decide on next years keepers. Then begin to shop online or from your rose catalogs for new roses for your spring garden. Most rose catalogs are now online so you can preview the roses and read about them to determine which selections would be best for your garden. Go to plantmaps.com and find your plant hardiness zone and determine the last possible date in the spring to expect a hard freeze. Most rose providers will also assist you in determining your zone and ship at the appropriate time.
January is a good month for planning spring gardens and transplanting dormant roses of all types in warmer climates. Be sure to remove soil from the roots and then handle the plant as you would any new bare root rose.
Construction and renovation of existing beds can be planned or completed. Now is a good time to send off soil samples for analysis if you use soil samples in your rose program.
January is a good time to visit www.ars.org. and check out all the member benefits. I want to encourage you to find your local society and go to a meeting. Rosarians are committed to assist you in rose education and sharing their knowledge about roses.
This is when I carefully analyze the roses that worked best last season and identify those that were the top performers so you can also be able to know good roses as you choose roses for your garden. Here are the real winners of 2015* and the actual pictures from last summer. This list is Interactive. You can vote your favorite rose up or down.
Also I will be speaking at The Northwest Flower and Garden Show next month. If you are able to come please plan on visiting. Here’s the link to the schedule. Northwest Flower and Garden Show
GARDEN 101: Garden Royalty February 17, 2015
2:15 pm – 2:45 pm
The Secret to Landscaping With Roses
Susan Fox – Consulting Rosarian and author, Four Seasons of Roses Monthly Guide to Rose Care
*Disclaimer These opinions are subject to change as more prolific, hardier, more disease resistant roses are produced.
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Have fun at the flower show!