Rose bush for Mother's Day

[Songbird]

Okay, I need help..

The rose bush I've had din't survive the winter, and now my son got me another one in a pot from Wal-Mart.
Would it be a mistake to plant it in the corner of my vegetable garden, since I'm there a lot and it would get my attention??
How much sun do they need? jeanette mention epsom salt...what's deal on that?? I really don't know how to treat roses, and tha'ts sad, becasue Rose was my maiden name and my family always had roses!!! I need help!!!

[douglas]

Full sun if possible I have a few out in the open and had them a few years now so I don't think it should be a problem. Some die sometimes it just happens
Potted ones should have a better chance then those wrapped in plastic that have hardly any roots
Pull it out of the pot and ruffle up the root ball to help them expand out and give it a good soaking

[crazy1]

And add compost!!!!!!!!! And feed with comppost tea Also chop up your banana peels and put them round the base of the plant. Roses love banana peels

[douglas]

Now I know where to put my extra peels

[Pharmer Phil]

Song, good luck with your Rose bush, I have had several, and they died, all but a rugosa rose, very tuff booger it is.
Roses need at very least 6 hours of sun, full sun, all day is best,
Stay away from too much nitrogen type fertilizers, or you will get bush, and few or no blooms.
Water deeply, a couple times a week instead of a little everyday, this will build the root system. Water in the morning, Each bush needs about 4-5 gallons per week during the hot summer and this is best when the bush gets Morning Sun, it dries the leaves and keeps disease from attacking your plant, roses can get lots of disease and bugs.
here in Mn. the method for over-wintering practiced by many, and reccomended by the U of M, is to dig a trench, next to the rose/rootball, and lay the plant gently in this trench, covering it entirely with soil, until spring, I doubt you would have to do this in your zone.
Epsom salt provides Magnesium and this helps with the nutient uptake, providing a greener healhier plant. Gardens using manure sometime lack magnesium, and is advisable for tomato, peppers also.
Last of all, don't expect alot from your bush for the first year, patience!

[Pharmer Phil]

and a P.S. here, many time the store boughten gift plants have been terribly treated, over/under watered, given massive doses of high Phospherous fertilizers to make them perty for sale, at the expense of the plants on-going vigor. As douglas stated, gently ruffle up that rootbal, and Yes Crazy, they do like nanner peels!

[Songbird]

Thank you everyone for your help!!

Now Phil, how much epsom salt do i give it?
......... do i just sprinke it around on top of the ground, or do i work it into the ground before i set the plant......?
...or both? I guess that brings me to "how often"?

Also, Crazy... just lay the banana peels on the ground around it??
...or smash them down into the soil?

Doug, it's not out in the open at all. It will be in the corner of the fence, actually, but it will get a good 6 hours of sun per day. I have it sitting there IN pot, and it's got 6 flowers on it! I hope that's a good sign that it likes it there!!

[crazy1]

Hey Song! Thats a cool smiley.
We cut ours into rrreeeaally small pieces. You know take that chefs knife and go to town!!!! Thenit goes on top the soil in pots or we mix it into the mulch.
Iph you can............ I'd give em' as much SUN as possible! Those Beautys love it.

[deb65802]

My grandmother had hundreds and hundreds of roses of every color all up and down her fence rows. She propagated dozens each year. She cut the stems in pieces about 6-8 inches long and put them upright in a pan of sand with an inch of water on the bottom. They stayed there until they were well rooted. Then she planted them into a little bed on the side of the house in full sun. She watered them alot to keep them moist.

The next year they went out into the field along side the fence rows. They either made it or they didn't. She would add composted manure to the rose nursery bed and begin again with new plantings. The vast majority of them made beautiful bushes. In the fall she would ride along with grandpa and put a shovel of cow manure around each one. She talked to them like they were her babies.

In the winter in her nursery bed she would cover the small roses with straw or leaves several inches thick. She was famous for her roses and daylilies.