As I pen this , I ’m sitting in my agency on our farm looking out my window at blow on the ground . This is our first snowfall this year and while I ’m enjoy it , I know many of our rose admirer to the North have probably had enough by now ! It ’s also been much colder than normal this yr .
I ’ve learned when gardeners ca n’t garden in the wintertime they turn to their 2nd favorite natural process – read volume about horticulture ! I have shelf full , and never get tired of pulling them out on a cold day and wave up on the couch with a dependable garden read , a cat by my side and a firing in the flak place . Well , okay it ’s not really that idyllic but you get the idea !
I ’ve get a couple of new ones this twelvemonth and I ’d care to pass them on to you . Enjoy .

‘ Four Seasons of Roses . 2014 Monthly Guide To Rose Care ’ by Susan Fox .
Susan Fox is perhaps better known online as “ Gagas Garden ” . She live and gardens in key Illinois . What Susan has put together is an unfussy monthly scout filled with tips on develop garden roses . The book is user - well-disposed and if you are new to roses or shy how to deal with them calendar month to calendar month , I ’d recommend this book . The bakshish are brusque , to the full stop and cover a broad chain of mountains of subjects from grease one’s palms to planting to care . Do n’t think of this as a “ how to ” book , as it was n’t written with that in judgement . Instead , think of it as companion who calendar month to month jogs your store and points out some things to think about . In most cases you’re able to simply work on the advice and in others a few question or some prison term with Google will teach you what you need to make love . Each month has one page worth of tips so it does n’t get bogged down in too much detail .
Some of the tips I wish are ;

February – “ I ’ve bump the local provender memory board is a bully source for constituent grease amendments such as cottonseed repast , alfalfa meal and feather meal ”
July – “ You may notice as temperature get up that your rosebush will continue to bloom , however the blooms may be somewhat little and less frequent . proceed your eating and lachrymation program to ensure a beautiful fall bloom . ”
November – “ November is a good fourth dimension to make plans for newfangled rosaceous beds next spring . train the soil for winter or spring plantings now and the stain has time to set and stabilise . Rototill the ground 16″ abstruse and add your ground amendments . ”

There is even a recipe for potpourri and information on the nutritionary welfare of rosaceous hips .
Each month ’s tips are followed by a calendar so you may track day and opposite the calendar is a space to record distinction and reflection . engage notes is always good if you are new to roses or in a young clime . It allows you to go back over the twelvemonth to see what first growing emerged , what bloomed at what time andwhen the roses begin to shut down , etc . This makes it easygoing to plan your next class . It also severalize you which blush wine did well and more importantly , which one did not . Accompanying each month is a photo of a rosiness from Susan ’s garden that she is fond of .
Four Seasons of Roses is a nice ready to hand , small book to keep by your side during the year . The only affair I would mention is Susan gardens in Illinois so those who garden further south may have to pull off the timing of some of the tips . But , that is what the notes section is all about .

Four Seasons Of Roses is available fromAmazon
‘ The Dirt Diaries . Thirty Years in The Garden And Still Scratching The Surface ’ by Lynn Hunt .
Lynn Hunt is a professional writer who is also a keen gardener and rose lover . The Dirt Diaries chronicles her new garden at 3600′ in the mountains of North Carolina . An adventure this former flatlander seems to enjoy .

The Scripture is constructed almost as a series of blog mail service sharing observations , pourboire and photographs as the garden progresses during the year . Woven through it are affecting moments like where she blab out about her later Father ’s love of construction birdhouses and how she remember them by include many in her this garden . Along the way a new trail is build , a patio lay and all sort of new discoveries ranging from furious blossom to wild mushroom-shaped cloud to snakes and yes , even a bear .
As you read through it , it becomes apparent Lynn has a passion for rose . She speaks very fondly of the David Austin Roses and also the Old Roses . They seem to fly high in her newfangled climate and while many are old dearie from her former garden , the new climate contribute out different characteristic in them .
tissue through her observations of the roses and not only some tips and trace for using them , but also some ascend chronicle and rose lore . The latter is what peculiarly makes this a great wintertime rose study and I predict that you will learn some new thing and start to see rose in new light .

What is evident throughout the Holy Scripture is that Lynn is a professional author and also someone well - read . She bring in references not only from gardening , but from poesy and literature .
The Dirt Diaries is an E - Book available fromiTunes . The many photograph are almost all hers and are beautiful . They will have you dream of fountain in full color .
If you are looking for a prissy wintertime read you could read in between jet of good weather I think you ’ll enjoy The Dirt Diaries .

Happy Rosy ReadingPaul
For another great rose read check out my book Everyday Roses . How To produce Knock Out and Other Easy - Care Garden Roses . Published by and available fromTaunton Press .
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