APPRECIATION EXPRESSED FOR THE ROSE

Through the years roses have probably remained the most popular of all garden flowers. They are adaptable to many types of plantings and are grown in practically every section of our country.

Readers have commented that this beautiful, outstanding flower has been slighted in this column. Although roses (except minis) are no longer grown in the Ladybug's garden, there is a great appreciation for those gardeners who devote so much time, work and expense to their culture.

Four new roses have earned the All-America Rose Selections badge of excellence for 1993. The winners Rio Samba, Sweet Inspiration, Solitude and Child's Play will be available to gardeners next spring.

Rio Samba, a hyrbid tea being introduced by Jackson and Perkins, has brilliant yelow flowers that shade into orange. It has good flower form as well as a gentle perfume. Flower buds are handsome oval pointed and flowers open with 25 to 30 petals.

A creation of the late Wm. A. Warriner, who has introduced many roses, Rio Samba was named for the brilliantly dressed Samba dancers who added color and spectacle to Carnaval in Rio.

Sweet Inspiration, a floribunda with exceptional form, has been honored with a Silver Medal in Japan. It stays compact and dense, giving it a lot of uses outside the traditional rose garden. With its lovely pink flowers, Sweet Inspiration makes a woderful addition to a sunny bed, a perennial border or with shrubs.

Solitude, a radiant orange grandiflora with orange-gold reverse, is a blend of all the colors of a sunset, said a representative of Conrad-Pyle, the rose introducer.

A vigorous plant, Solitude promises lots of blooms. The buds are attractive even before the flower opens.

Child's Play, a miniature introduced by Nor'East Miniature Roses, is as easy to grow as its name suggests. The vigorous little plant grows to almost two feet in height and produces a dense, well balanced bush.

Child's Play opens with classic pointed bud form, revealing white petals edged with pink. As the flower opens fully, the white becomes more pronounced with pink remaining at the very edge of each petal for a picotee effect unusual in roses.

The All-America Rose Selections (AARS), a not for profit organization of rose producers, has advice for anyone who wants to grow good roses with a minimum amount of water.

According to the AARS, a low-pressure hose is one of the most cost efficient and effective ways to water. The soaker hose uses less water than traditional hoses and provides for deep penetration. Five to six hours of watering with a soaker hose two or three times a week is ideal. Early morning is the best time to water because less wind and lower temperatures keep evaporation to a minimum.

Check to see if the soil is soaked 12 to 18 inches deep. If you see puddles of water on the surface, you know you are watering too much.

Another way to save water, says the AARS, is to plant roses where they receive at least one-half day of sunshine, but not day-long full sun. Also avoid planting rose bushes close to a tree. Tree roots robs roses of essential nutrients and water.

Soaker hoses have proved to be the best way of watering roses during the hot, dry days of summer, says AARS. Light, frequent surface watering can cause rose bush roots to grow upward near the soil, which makes the roots vulnerable to damage during hot days or when weeding.

Roses are generally classified into groups according to similarity of habit in growth, form of flower, hardiness and other characteristics. The following are the three most popular classes.

Hybrid teas are the ones like florists' roses, with lovely pointed buds, strong stems and large flowers. Blooms are almost continuous, with the largest show at the first of the season and again in autumn. Plants stand three to six feet tall. Many of their flowers are fragrant.

Floribundas have small blooms in large clusters and are quite hardy. Some have flowers and buds as perfectly formed as one of their ancestors, the hybrid teas. (The other ancestor is a group of bush roses sometimes called polyanthus). Their blooms are smaller and formed in clusters.

Grandifloras are descended from hybrid teas and floribundas. Flowers are large like hybrid teas, sometimes borne one to a stem, but more often several to a stem. They have great vigor and may grow quite tall.

To learn more about how to choose and grow roses, order "The Wonderful World of Roses," a four-color booklet prepared by AARS. Send a check for $1 plus a self addressed, stamped #10 envelope to All-America Rose Selections, Department CR, 221 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60601.