A Garden of Possibilities

I have to admit it, I’m a bit intimidated by roses.  Maybe it’s because I’m a  lazy gardener at heart, but roses seem way too high maintenance for me.  Sure, whenever I see a beautiful shrub rose or climbing rose in full bloom I lust after it and tell myself I can be the kind of gardener who grows spectacular roses, but I’ve never had the confidence to jump into the rose world with two feet – until now.

Right Rose, Right Place by Peter Schneider is a guide book for selecting the right rose for nearly any garden situation.  From the opening sentence of the introduction, ‘The single most important key to growing good roses is choosing the right rose in the first place.’ to one of the last sentences, ‘Rose pruning is not a mysterious excercise once you understand the reasons why it’s necessary.’ , Schneider walks you through all the steps you’ll need to make the right rose choice for your garden.

I like the way Schneider doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to growing roses.  Early on he talks about how you need to decide what rose feature is most important to you – the color, fragrance, height, disease resistance, repeat bloom – and then realize you simply can’t have it all.  Successfully growing roses means you have to compromise.  That’s hard to hear but important and truthful information, especially for novice rose growers. 

Right Rose, Right Place includes chapters on stand-alone roses, roses to grow in mixed beds, shrub roses, cutting roses, climbing roses, roses for containers, and tree roses.  Once you identify the garden vignette that works for you, Schneider walks you through all the best rose choices, offering tips and advice along with the basics like color, bloom size, height and hardiness.  Chapters on buying, planting and caring for roses round out all the how-to basics you’ll need to succeed.

Whether you’re new to rose gardening or looking to add just the right rose to your growing collection, Right Rose Right Place has something to offer – confidence.

Note:  This book was provided to me by the publisher, Storey,  for the express purpose of reviewing it.