Growing Winter Roses In Containers For Valentines Day Outdoors

http://www.b2review.com/growing-winter-roses-in-containers-for-valentines-day... Growing roses in the winter can be a challenge because many of the other bushes, trees, and plants go dormant in the winter. Roses also seem to grow slower in the winter which may be due to less light and shorter days.

Growing Roses In Winter

A few months ago I rescued a dormant rose bush that a neighbor gave me. They did not believe the roses would ever come back but as a test I attempted to grow it and it worked! First I added some vermicompost which I created myself from organic left overs from our kitchen along with leaves and yard clippings. Then I trimmed the dead branches off to make room for new stems to grow. After some guidance I decided to trim the plant for "long stem roses" so that I could give them to a special person for Valentines day. To do this you want to keep you long growing stems, trim any "sucker" stems off and try to trim so the highest hole in the stem (junction where the branches grow out) is facing outward. This way the roses grow out from the plant and have room to keep growing.

I also put the rose plant on a irrigation system and water it about every 3 days if there is no rain to help. I also added leaves to the stop of the container as a mulch which also seems to help keep the fruit flies away and other pests from eating the rose leaves. The mulch also helps to keep the soil moist and slightly warmer in the winter months.

Eating The Roses You Grow!

Even though most people I know do not normally eat roses, they are a welcome visual addition to most kitchen gardens and many people do eat them! Roses are a member of the Rosaceae family which also includes apples, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, pears, raspberries, strawberries and almonds. Rose hips, also said to be high in vitamin C are the fruit of the rose plant which may appear in the spring and develop through the summer. The Rose hip is used for many edible things including herbal teas, rose hip jam, jelly, rose syrup, soup, beverages, pies, bread, rose hip wine, and even marmalade. The pedals are also said to be edible and can be used in salads, teas, perfume and potpourri!

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Education

Tags:

• Roses
• organic
• gardening
• containers
• valentines day
• outdoor
• growing
• planting
• eating
• rose hip