Roses
Many gardeners in Mississippi think we can only be successful with roses like Knockouts. Today I’m at K & M Roses where Jim and Daisy Mills have been growing beautiful and colorful hybrid roses for more than 20 years. Hybrid tea roses are very popular; they usually feature one flower on long and sturdy stems, which makes them great for cut flowers. The flowers are tightly spiraled and bowl shaped. The fragrance is very heady, having layers of strong floral notes. Floribunda roses have more branching and will produce up to 3 or more flowers in clusters on each stem. Because of these clusters of showy flowers, floribunda roses make great garden specimens. Most rose flowers are doubles, like this Abby’s Angel. But single flower forms are also common, such as this Aunt Ruth. I think the single flowers resemble camellia flowers with the stamens having a light feathery texture in the center. Most modern roses are grafted, much like fruit trees, because their roots are not very vigorous. The Mills use the fortuniana rootstock that grows successfully in Mississippi soil conditions. The hybrid rose is matched to the rootstock, and the graft is sealed much like placing a band-aid on a cut finger. After several weeks, the two pieces have healed together and become one plant. Roses can be high maintenance flowers. They require consistent moisture, and yearly fertilizing, and they also require regular spraying to protect them from both insect pests and plant diseases. Besides the beautiful flowers, the new foliage initially is a purplish red, adding even more color interest to the landscape. I’m Gary Bachman for Southern Gardening.