Pick the Best Roses for Your Garden

Roses have long been a favorite among all types of gardeners, and roses continue to enjoy great popularity today. In addition to their beauty as cut flowers and in bouquets, roses are among the most useful and attractive flowers to grace the landscape of any home. As a matter of fact, the exterior of any home can be made more graceful and more inviting through the use of wonderful landscape roses. Choosing the right ones, and ensuring that they compliment the overall style of the home, is very important to the overall success of the landscape.

There are literally hundreds of types of roses that you can grow in your garden. With such a selection to choose from, it can be extremely difficult to choose the rose that's right for you. To make this task a bit easier, We've outlined a few important factors you should consider.


CLIMATE

Choosing the right roses for your particular climate zone is essential. In order for roses to grow healthy and bloom generously, they must be able to adjust to your climate. If you live in an area that is prone to cold winters, you would certainly want a rose that could survive during the off season. If your climate is mild you have many more chooses to consider. Choosing the best rose varieties for your specific climate should mean fewer pesticides, fewer disease issues and an overall healthier garden.


COLOR

Color may seem trivial at first glance, but it's usually an important factor to those that want to grow roses. Usually it is simply a matter of personal preference, but you may want to try creating a complimentary color palette for your rose garden.
The goal of choosing the best color roses for the landscape should be to compliment the color of the surrounding landscape. For instance, a spray of plain white tea roses can be striking against a dark red brick home, or an arrangement of pink roses can be the perfect compliment to a stone or marble entranceway. With so many colors of roses to choose from, it should be easy to find colors that compliment and enhance any decorating scheme.


HEIGHT

The size of the roses you choose is also very important. Consider the height of the rose at full growth. If the rose grows 15 feet tall, will it look unattractive in your garden? Remember, roses vary in size. While some roses may grow up to 8 feet, others can grow as high as 20 feet. Measure the area of your garden prior to choosing your roses. Compare your width and height measurements with roses you'd like to purchase. Your roses will need plenty of space to grow as well as room for exposure to the air.


SPACE

You need to consider the size of your garden space, so that you can ensure proper exposure to the air and other elements as well. Crowding too many plants into two smaller space won't give you the results you desire. If you have only a small amount of space to dedicate to roses, you may want to grow miniature roses. These roses do not take up much space and they are easy to plant and care for.


FRAGRANCE

Old Garden Roses bloom for several months at a time, and have a strong and beautiful scent.
If however, certain fragrances would invoke an allergic reaction, you would certainly want to plant roses that have a softer fragrance than the others. Shrub roses are a good choose, they have less sent than some other types.


MAINTENANCE

How much time will you be able to spend maintaining your roses? Are you one of those people who lives to be in the garden, or are you more of a low-maintenance gardener? There are several types of roses which are very high-maintenance. Although they'll be dazzling in your garden, they'll require a lot of your time. The classification known as "Modern Roses" are very stunning, long blooming, and highly fragrant; however, they are very high maintenance and are prone to disease. The rose classification known as "Old Garden Roses", on the other hand, have been bred to be very disease-resistant and require less maintenance. "Old Garden Roses" bloom for several months at a time, and have a strong and beautiful scent. The bad news is that people with strong allergies to fragrances will have a terrible time around them. If that could be a problem for you, then consider any of the variety known as "shrub roses". They are also disease-resistant and long blooming, but produce a mild scent.


OTHER FLOWERS IN GARDEN

You should also consider what other types of flowers or plants you plan to add to the garden. You want to add plants and flowers that will not create a damaging environment to your rose's ecosystem. In other words, make sure any other plants are good neighbors. A popular trend in the world of landscaping is to use a variety of different plants and flowers in the landscape. Doing so not only makes for a vibrant garden, but it is thought to enhance the health of the soil as well. Fortunately, roses lend themselves well to this mixture, and roses can be a beautiful part of an overall landscape of plants and flowers.


The bottom line is while there are a wide variety of rose plants, do your homework and pick the plants that are best suited to your locale and your particular garden situation. But don't be afraid, just forge ahead and soon you will be enjoying both the beauty and fragrance of your own rose plants.

With a little upfront planning and consideration you can have a lovely Rose Garden for years to come. Enjoy the journey and enjoy your garden!