A Plants are grown in the garden and landscape for many reasons. Maybe for providing shade. Some attract wildlife such as butterflies, birds or squirrels. They sometimes can act as a privacy fence. Some produce edible nuts and fruits. And some flowering trees are planted because of the amazing blooms they are covered with in fall, spring or summer.

Flowering trees in shades of lavender and violet make an attractive addition to the garden or lawn, and purple flowering plants are no exception. Available in a range of shades, purple flowers not only brighten up the garden but also add some fragrance to your garden, even some varieties contain medical benefits too.

Traditionally, purple is the color of royalty and magistrates, but also is evolved to symbolize dignity, success, and pride.

So, if you are looking for a touch of nobility to change the look and appeal your garden and even wedding decoration, adding some purple flowering plants is the best way.

Let’s get some purple with the list of 50+ purple flowers and discover the varieties best suited to your garden design.

A collection of 50+ purple flowers

Butterfly Bush

Botanical Name: Buddleia davidii

Plant type: Perennial, shrub

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 5-10

Blooms: From Summer to Fall

Flower features: Fragrant, attracts hummingbirds and butterflies – hence the name

Gloxinia

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Sinningia speciosa

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 5-10

Blooms: Late Spring to Early Fall

Flower features: Brilliantly colored trumpet-shaped

Bittersweet Nightshade

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Solanum dulcamara

Plant type: Perennial, Vine

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Spring to Fall

Flower features: Attract bumblebees and Halictid bees, Contain solanine, an alkaloid glycoside

Clematis

Botanical Name: Clematis spp.

Group: Climbers, shrubs, perennials

Sun Exposure: Full sun (Some clematis cultivars will bloom in partial shade)

Growing zones: 3-9

Blooms: Winter to late Summer

Flower features: Large blossoms ( Some are smaller blossoms, double blossoms, and lovely bell-like flowers). Colors range from white to wine red, lavender to deep purple, and even a few yellow ones.

Verbena

Botanical Name: Verbena bonariensis

Plant type: Annual, Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 9-11

Blooms: Early Summer to early Fall

Flower features: Fragrance, Good for Containers, Drought Resistant

Common Vetch

Flickr

Botanical Name: Vicia sativa L.

Group: Climbers, annuals, perennials

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Blooms: Mid Spring to mid Summer

Flower features: Fragrance, Attract bumblebees and other long-tongued bees.

Bellflower

Botanical Name: Campanula

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-9

Blooms: Mid Summer to Fall

Flower features: Bell-shaped, mostly blue to purple, sometimes white or pink

Dwarf Iris

Botanical Name: Iris Reticulata

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 5-9

Blooms: Early spring

Flower features: Showy, Fragrant, Good Cut, relatively large (iris-shaped) flowers on a short stem.

Design ideas: good for rock gardens, under shrubs and tress, in beds, at the front of borders and containers and for indoor forcing.

Balloon Flower

Botanical Name: Platycodon

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-9

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Attracts Birds, Cut Flowers, Good for Containers, Low Maintenance

Design ideas: great in rock gardens, mixed borders, or cutting gardens.

Catmint

Botanical Name: Nepeta

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 3-8

Blooms: Early Summer

Flower features: Produce clusters of purple flowers that attract butterflies

Spiderwort

Botanical Name: Tradescantia

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-7

Blooms: Summer to Early Fall

Flower features: Purplish-blue (concord grape), three-petale.

Salvia

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Salvia officinalis

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-9

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: attractive to bees and butterflies

Monkshood

Botanical Name: Aconitum napellus

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-7

Blooms: Mid to late Summer

Flower features: dark purple to bluish-purple, narrow oblong helmet-shaped that somewhat resembles the hood worn by medieval monks, hence the common names of monkshood and helmet flower.

Allium

Botanical Name: Allium giganteum

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 5-8

Blooms: Late Spring to early Summer

Flower features: fragrant, purple and bee-friendly flowers, attract butterflies, make excellent cut flowers for fresh or dried bouquets.

Lily Of The Nile

Botanical Name: Agapanthus africanus

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 8-11

Blooms: Late Spring to early Summer

Flower features: blooms in large round clusters ranging from light-blue to deep-violet, attracts Butterflies, attracts Hummingbirds, Flowers for Cutting.

Alpine Betony

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Stachys monieri

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 4-9

Blooms: Early Summer

Flower features: Showy, Good cut, lavender-purple flowers.

Bee Orchid

Botanical Name: Ophrys apifera

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 6-9

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Named for their bee-like shape, these orchids attract male bees. Comes in many different color combinations. 3 outer petals range from white to purple and the central lip can be a solid color or dotted.

Anemone

Botanical Name: Anemone nemorosa

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-9

Blooms: Early Spring or Fall

Flower features: white, often reddish outside but may be purple or violet.

Blue-Eyed Grass

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Sisyrinchium bermudiana L

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-9

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: small, bright-purple flower

Design ideas: Best used as a border front, in rock gardens, to line pathways, or at the woodland’s edge.

Wild Indigo

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Baptisia australis

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-9

Blooms: Late Spring, early Summer

Flower features: long spikes of pea-like flowers, in shades of violet-blue, attract butterflies and Birds

Design ideas: Cottages gardens, borders, meadows and native plant gardens.

China Aster

Botanical Name: Callistephus chinensis

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 2-11

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Cultivar shades of white to pink, red, blue,violet, purple and yellow, attract butterflies and Birds

Design ideas: Used as part of a border and also used often as a cut flower in arrangements.

Wild Hyacinth

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Dichelostemma capitatum

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 10-11

Blooms: Late Spring, early Summer

Flower features: A ball-shaped cluster of up to 20 individual purple flowers blooms on top of a slender stem.

Canterbury Bells

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Campanula medium

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-10

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Comes in many color, bell-shaped flowers are short-stalked, large and hermaphroditic, with different shades of violet-blue or rarely white.

Uses for garden: Beds and borders

Sea Thistle

Botanical Name: Cirsium japonicum

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 8-10

Blooms: Late Spring to Early Summer

Flower features: as cut flowers, usually purple, rose or pink, also yellow or white; attract bees, butterflies and birds.

Calla Lily

Flickr

Botanical Name: Zantedeschia

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 5-8

Blooms: Late Spring to mid Summer

Flower features: as cut flowers, purple, trumpet-shaped.

Common Mallow

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Malva neglecta

Plant type: Annual, Perennial, Edible

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Early Summer to mid Fall

Flower features: showy papery white, to light pink to light purple, 5 petaled flowers . Attract Bees, butterflies.

Ranunculus

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Malva neglecta

Plant type: Annual, Perennial, Edible

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Early Summer to mid Fall

Flower features:

Candytuft

Botanical Name: Iberis pruitii

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 7-11

Blooms: Summer, Fall

Flower features: 2″ clusters of purple or red-tinged white flowers

Cyclamen

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Cyclamen persicum

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 5

Blooms: Fall, Winter

Flower features: are not only striking, pretty and colorful but full of poise and elegance, attract butterflies.

Columbine

Botanical Name: Aquilegia

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-8

Blooms: Late Spring to early Summer

Flower features: Bell-shaped, come in variety of colors, are a favorite of hummingbirds.

Dinner Plate Dahlia

Botanical Name: Dahlia

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 3-10

Blooms: Mid Summer to Fall

Flower features: Cut Flowers, attract butterflies.

Fuchsia

Botanical Name: Fuchsia magellanica

Plant type: Annual and Perennial

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 9-10

Blooms: Early to late Summer and mid Fall

Flower features: delicate dangling bell-like flowers, crimson with a purple centre, attract butterflies.

Foxgloves

Botanical Name: Digitalis purpurea

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-10

Blooms: Mid Summer

Flower features: A wide array of color white, pink to purple, attract butterflies and birds.

Gladiolus

Botanical Name: Gladiolus hortulanus

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 6-10

Blooms: Early Summer to mid Fall

Flower features: make a great cut flower, showy and fragrant flowers, come in variety of colors: white, cream, yellow, orange, red, pink, green lavender & purple.

Waxflower

Botanical Name: Chamelaucium

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 9-11

Blooms: Late Winter

Flower features: range from deep purple to bright red, attract butterflies.

Perennial Geranium

Botanical Name: Geranium

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Late Winter

Flower features: Ranging from white to deep blue, best planted as a border and in containers.

Heliotrope

Botanical Name: Heliotropium peruvianum

Plant type: Annual, Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 10-11

Blooms: Summer to Fall

Flower features: Features sweetly fragrant, tiny purple or violet flowers in large showy clusters

Honesty

Botanical Name: Lunaria annua

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Spring and early Summer

Flower features: Dark-purple, fragrant flowers

Lilac

Botanical Name: Syringa vulgaris

Plant type: Annual and Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-7

Blooms: Spring

Flower features: is a shade of purple (often a light purple or lilac), but white, pale yellow and even a dark burgundy color are also found.

Lupine

Botanical Name: Lupinus perennis

Plant type: Annual and Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 3-9

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Showy, elongate clusters of purple, pea-like flowers.

Lisianthus

Botanical Name: Eustoma russellianum

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 9-11

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Double and single Lisianthus flower varieties, come in various colors such as white, various shades of lavender, deep purple, and bi-colors such as blue-violet. Attract bees and butterflies.

Aster

Botanical Name: Aster amellus

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-8

Blooms: Late Summer and Early Fall

Flower features: Displaying vibrant fall colors in shades of pink, purple, blue, and white; the last great feeding opportunities for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators

Morning Glory

Botanical Name: Ipomoea purpurea

Plant type: Annual and Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 3-10

Blooms: Early Summer to the first frost

Flower features: trumpet-shaped flowers of pink, purple-blue, magenta, or white. Big, fragrant, colorful flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Mystic Merlin

Botanical Name: Malva Sylvestris

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Early Summer to Early Fall

Flower features: similar satiny flowers in a soft lavender-purple shade. Flowers are attractive to butterflies.

Purple Pansy

Botanical Name: Viola wittrockiana

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Late spring to Early Summer

Flower features: a wide range of pansy flower colors and bicolors including blue, purple, rose, yellow, red, maroon, white. They are attractive to butterflies.

Pasque

Botanical Name: Pulsatilla

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 5-9

Blooms: Early to mid spring

Flower features: showy, dazzling blue-purple flowers. This flower is an excellent addition to a rock garden. The pasque flower is also a sign that Easter has arrived.

Petunia

Botanical Name: Petunia hybrida

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 9-11

Blooms: Summer and Fall

Flower features: are available in stripes, speckles and borders in an extensive color palette that includes purple, pink, red, white, mauve, lavender, and yellow. The basic petunia flower is funnel shape, but hybridizers have created many variations including singles and doubles.

Rhododendron

Botanical Name: Rhododendron ferrugineum

Plant type: Evergreen

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-9

Blooms: Spring

Flower features: Fragrant flowers in an array of colors – from pure white and light pastels to brilliant orange and gold to purple and red.

Pincushion flower

Botanical Name: Scabiosa

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 3-7

Blooms: Spring, Summer, Fall

Flower features: can be found most often in shades of blue, white and purple. Attract butterflies.

Uses in Gardening: Can be used as edging. Excellent for grouping or massing in border fronts and rock gardens.

Sea Holly

Botanical Name: Eryngium

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 4-11

Blooms: Summer to Fall

Flower features: Has beautiful amethyst blue flowers and a somewhat straggling nature; ideal for attracting butterflies.

Wisteria

Botanical Name: Wisteria sinensis

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 5-8

Blooms: Spring

Flower features: Colors range from white and blue to violet. Beauty and perfume of its showy, deliciously fragrant flowers. Attracts Birds, Butterflies.

Bell Heather

Botanical Name: Erica cinerea

Plant type: Evergreen, Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 6-8

Blooms: Early Summer and Early Fall

Flower features: reddish-purple, bell-shaped blooms.

Hydrangea

Botanical Name: Hydrangea macrophylla

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-9

Blooms: Fall, Summer

Flower features: They have beautiful mop-head or lacecap flowers. Their flowers can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple. Attract pollinators like bees and butterflies to the fertile buds in the center.

Zinnia

Botanical Name: Zinnia elegans

Plant type: Annual and Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 3-10

Blooms: Summer through Fall

Flower features: The ray flowers are purple, the discs yellow and black. Attract Butterflies.

Moonflower

Botanical Name: Datura stramonium

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 8-11

Blooms: Throughout the Summer

Flower features: Their large blooms produce a relaxing smell and can most frequently be found in white or light purple corollas. They attract bees, butterflies and moths.

Carnation

Botanical Name: Dianthus caryophyllus

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun/ Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-10

Blooms: Summer to all year long

Flower features: They emit a spicy fragrance and generally come in hues of pink, purple and white.

Hellebores

Botanical Name: Hellebores

Plant type: Perennial, Evergreen.

Sun Exposure: Full sun/ Partial Shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Winter and early Spring.

Flower features: Ranging in color from white to purple. Attract butterflies.

Sweet pea

Botanical Name: Lathyrus odoratus

Plant type: Annual, Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 7-10

Blooms: Summer and Early Fall

Flower features: Come in many colors with a fragile fragrance that is commonly used in perfumes.

Have you found out the varieties best suited to your garden design? I hope so. Enjoy purple flowering plants in your garden!

The post 50+ Purple Flowers Ideas for Your Garden appeared first on quiet hut.

Roses and rose gardening have also been around for a very long time. The fossilized remains of wild roses were discovered by Archaeologists that date back more than 40 million years. Today, there’re tons of different kinds of roses that have been discovered, around 150 to 200 species of the genus Rosa and thousands of varieties. There is even a Rose Reference Database that lists over 6,716 roses, searchable by name, classification, variety, color and many more characteristics.

Roses are considered the queen of flowers because of their beauty and fragrance, which also draw us to roses. Roses fill our gardens with glorious blooms all summer long and well into autumn or even winter and many are deliciously scented. So what better way to enjoy the romance of the garden than by growing roses?

However, you might hear that growing the “queen of flowers” can be a thorny endeavor and roses are just too much trouble. All that special fertilizers, pruning (which look difficult), talk of blackspot and diseases…that’s enough to put the novice gardener off rose gardening forever. But it’s not that hard to grow shrub roses. In fact, shrub roses are bred to be low maintenance, disease resistant, and easier to use. Moreover, “Modern rose bushes are both beautiful and tough in a wide range of growing conditions, so they are easier to grow than ever before,” says Christian Bedard, research director for Weeks Roses, America’s premier rose grower.

That being said, growing roses doesn’t have to be a challenge. As long as they are placed in a sunny location and given some TLC, you’re halfway to having a spectacular rose garden. In this detailed guide, you will learn how to grow your own rose garden successfully.

Rose Gardening: Planting Roses

Choosing roses

Take into consideration your site before choosing roses because the wrong rose for the site conditions will mean extra care of roses and not so good results. As I mentioned above, there are literally thousands of different varieties and species of roses, there is always one that will grow happily on your site.

When you buy a rose plant, it helps if you are careful to choose healthy plants, whether you are buying bare-rooted roses or potted roses. Look for signs of fungal diseases on bare-roots and always check the leaves, stems, and flowers before buying and only buy strong healthy-looking plants.

You can buy roses in different ways: Containerised, Container-grown, bare-root or pre-packed (Pre-packed roses are basically the same as bare-rooted roses, but have their roots trimmed and wrapped in plastic with a little compost).

Pre-packed roses and Bare-rooted roses

Bare-rooted roses have a lot of varieties available and they are a convenient way to order plants by mail if you can’t find at a local nursery.

These dormant roses are best planted in the early spring after the last frost and should be planted after you bring them home. They will take time to bloom over the spring.

Containerised and container-grown roses

If you are a novice rose grower, a potted rose is a great way to go since growing and caring roses in containers is easy. These potted roses are also perfect for those who don’t have space or soil to grow them in the ground.

Roses growing in containers can be planted any time between spring and fall. Most potted roses have been frown on the ground then lifted and potted up, so check plants have developed a good root system before choosing and planting.

Choose The Right Site

In rose gardening, it’s important to choose a site receiving at least six hours of sun each day. There are some roses that will be happy in partial shade, but most roses bloom their best if they are in a spot that gets sun all day.

Roses benefit from plenty of room and air, so it is never advisable to plant roses under trees or where they will be overshadowed by surrounding shrubbery. But some shade during the heat of the day will be a benefit because this will prevent your blooms from fading. And a good spot should have good air circulation, which helps prevent fungal diseases.

Prepare the soil

Rose foots are hungry feeders, so the soil needs to be thoroughly dug over and improved before planting. Dig in plenty of bulky organic matter will help ensure strong, healthy growth.

Light, sandy soils tend to dry out quickly, nutrients leach away and they often fail to provide the physical support to withstand strong winds, so rose bushes must also be located in well-prepared clay soil, rich in organic matter. Also, make sure your soil has good drainage because roses’ roots will rot if left to sit for a long time on wet soil.

Most roses will not tolerate extremes of alkalinity or acidity, generally preferring soils that are slightly acidic or neutral (5.5 to 7.0). If the soil is alkaline, treating it with sulfate of iron will help to make it more acidic.

Planting

• Wear sturdy gloves to protect your hands from prickly thorns.
• If you are planting bare root roses, soak the roots in the water for at least 24 hours prior to placing them in the ground and the roots must be kept moist the first few months after planting. Have a hose or bucket of water nearby and keep your bare-root rose in water until you are ready to place it in the ground.
• Give them plenty of organic matter and don’t crowd them.
• For bare-root and pre-packed roses, dig out a hole large and deep enough to accommodate the plant’s roots and to allow for good drainage, since roses don’t like wet feet. (for most types, the hole should be about 15 to 18 inches wide)
• If you want to plant several rose bushes together, space them at least 3 feet apart to give the plant ample growing room as it matures.
• Check the planting depth by placing the rose, in its pot, into the hole. Using a cane, ensure the graft union will be below the surface, or slightly above in heavy soil, then take the rose out of the hole.
• Water your roses and leave to drain before removing from its pot. Make a mound of earth in the base of the hole and stand the rose on top of the mound.
• Backfill the hole with soil, add some compost and well-rotted manure into the soil and water thoroughly. Mix well to prevent the manure from burning the roots. Then finish filling the hole with the remaining soil. Water again and then mound up additional soil around the base of the plant.
• You will have to wait a couple of months before the leaves start showing. At this time, you can then begin to feed them.

Tips: When you eat bananas, don’t throw away the peels, cut them into a pieces and plant them with your roses. It adds Potassium (K) to the soil – an essential nutrient for plant growth.

Rose gardening: Caring for Your Roses

Feeding Roses

To produce an impressive show of flowers, you should need to feed your roses regularly before and throughout the blooming cycle.

For newly planted bare-root plants, you want to use organic methods at planting time until after the rose has produced its first blooms to avoid burning the new plant’s roots.

Organic amendments not only provide a slow, steady supply of nutrients but also help to encourage beneficial soil microbes and a well-balanced soil pH. Monthly applications of composted manure, compost and other natural and organic fertilizers, such as fish emulsion, work well.

Slow- release granular fertilizers that supply the right balance of phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen and other minor nutrients will also give roses the nourishment they need for optimum growth. But be careful not to over-fertilize your plants, as this can damage them.

Important note: Avoid chemical fertilizers and pesticides if you’re harvesting for the kitchen.

The nutrient content in synthetic fertilizers is often higher than what you’ll find in organic amendments, so fewer applications are necessary – typically once in late spring and once in the early fall.

Tips:

• Again, you can also use old banana skins for feeding your roses by cutting and placing old banana skins (with the inside of the peel facing down) into the soil, around the roots.
• Planting parsley can benefit your roses since the parsley improves not only the roses’ health but also the blooms’ scent.

Watering Roses

Watering roses well is a very important aspect of growing a healthy disease resistant roses. Roses need a steady supply of moisture to keep them healthy and blooming. Some roses will let you know right away when they are thirsty, Tuscan Sun for example. The amount and frequency of watering will depend on your rose kind, your soil, and climate.

Most roses generally need to be watered deeply since this encourages their roots to extend farther down in the soil where it stays moist longer. But don’t drown them, they will die if the soil is too wet in winter. The ideal soil is loose and rich with good drainage.

Use a soaker hose to deliver water directly to the roots to keep the leaves dry, that helps your plants resist disease. Also, avoid frequent shallow sprinklings, which may encourage fungus.

Use mulch to help retain moisture in the soil, reduce the level of maintenance needed and conserve water. When you are applying a mulch for the first time, it’s best applied when the soil is moist and warm. And apply a 3 to 4-inch layer of shredded and chopped leaves or shredded bark around the base of your plants.

When you water is as important as how you water. Watering the rose in hot and dry summer weather should be a thorough watering at least twice times a week and water every day in very hot weather.

Pruning Roses

Pruning is best done in the early spring, before or as plants begin to grow. However, you can lightly prune your plants all season long to keep them well-groomed.

Regular pruning is essential to keep rose bushes lush, healthy and constantly blooming. However, pruning is often seen by novice rose growers as something to be scared of and is considered the most confusing and intimidating aspect of rose gardening. Don’t let that deter you from rose gardening! With the right techniques and tools, pruning is not very difficult and you soon find that it is not such a mystery after all.

Start with pruning shears for smaller growth. Use loppers, long-handled shears, for growth that is more than half an inch thick. And a small pruning saw is also a must-have tool as it cuts on both the push and the pull. Now, you have all tools to begin pruning roses.

When planting roses, you want your roses to grow with an open center so air can flow freely through the plant, this also helps your plants to be more like “self-cleaning”. Just cut out any dead branches as well as small, weak canes and cut back a third to a half of the old growth until you find white centers inside the cane. Clean away from around the base of the rosebushes any trimmed debris in order to decrease the chances of rose disease and insects on your rose.

Every leaf has a growth bud, so removing all rosehips and dead flowers encourage new flowers to form, just cut back below the first five-leaflet stem to promote regrowth. If your roses don’t develop rosehips, so no deadheading is needed because the blooms will drop off automatically and the roses will keep on producing more flowers.

Also, keep in mind that never plant your roses on the spot where there was another one that died because that will increase the chances of rose diseases on your new rose. If the rose is dead, just dig it out and plant a new rose in another spot of your garden.

Pest and Disease

The best way to prevent rose diseases is to select roses suited to your region or choose disease-resistant varieties – but keep in mind that disease resistant doesn’t mean disease-proof.

Even with good conditions, roses will suffer at least one from a number of diseases and pests. Here are some of the more common problems and the treatment for them:

Black Spot

This disease looks as it sounds – circular black or brown spots on the top side of leaves. This disease often caused by water splashing on leaves, especially on rainy days.

Prevent this disease by improving air circulation through the rose and watering at ground level and make sure your roses are in full sun.

A garden fungicide, which is for use on roses during periods of wet weather, can help fight the spread of black spot.

Powdery Mildew

If leave, buds are covered with a white powdery coating, it is probably powdery mildew. Mildew disease typically appears during warm and humid weather, especially when the days are dry and hot and the nights are wet and cool.

Avoid this disease by watering roses at ground level in the morning, since wet leaves, to provide the perfect growing environment. Pruning out any dead or diseased branches in the spring. Destroy any diseased parts during the growing season. During new growth, prevent mildew by dusting and spraying leaf surfaces and canes with fungicide. And again, make sure your roses get plenty of suns.

Insects

Pesky insects that like to feed on rose bushes include aphids, sawflies, and spider mites. Most of these insects can be controlled with a garden insecticide containing carbaryl, neem, or permethrin. In the case of aphids, a strong stream of water from a garden hose is often the only treatment necessary. Just good rose gardening practices can also help reduce these insects.

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