I just recently bought seven rose bushes. Its really a bit too early to plant rose bushes but the bushes were health and I decided to use a pre planting methods to hold the plants for another 2 weeks. This will give me time to prepare the rose bed and also to give the rose bushes more time for the weather to stabilize and not be such a jolt to the rose bush.

photo credit: tarynskye

The hold the bushes in a better environment I am making very large paper pots (so that they can be planted pot and all without being disturbed) and planting the rose bushes in the pots. The pots will need to be about 2 foot in diameter and will be a bit heavy so until I plant them they will be in a mini portable greenhouse.

The mini portable greenhouse I picked up at an auction for One dollar. It’s 4foot by 8 foot. Its great for protecting new plants and transplants.

To make the paper pots I will use an old 10-gallon shrub pot I saved and wrap it with about 8 layers of newspaper and tape or tie in place. I will also fill the pot on a board, which I will leave underneath so I can pick the pot up with the board. I will probably place the board on a handcart to move the plant into place once the garden area is ready.

The pot will be heavy once filled with soil so the board and handcart will make moving the paper pot easier. I have used handmade pots for many years and they hold up quite well for a limited time and break down easily in the soil.

The rose bushes I have selected are hybrid tea roses, which are now for their long stemmed flowers. The varieties are Peace, Charisma, Blue Boy, Chrysler Imperial, Mr. Lincoln and St. Josephs Coat.

If you’re interested in creating your own rose garden, you may want to follow the rose garden project from start to finish at Backyard Oasis Projects.

Rose garden tips

1. Choose the right location
2. check the amount of sun available
3. prepare the soil
4. plant the roses in proper soil mix and with a planting hole that is big
5. water every 7 to 10 days
6. fertilize 3 times during the season
7. keep the roses cut or deadhead for more flowers

Technorati Tags: Hybrid tea roses, planning a rose garden, planting roses, rose varieties, the perfect rose garden

There are certain seeds that benefit from scarification or stratification. There seeds are usually perennials, shrubs or trees. If you’re not familiar with the terms the definitions are below.

photo credit: n0rthw1nd

Scarification

The germination of some seeds is greatly improved or is only achieved with indoor gardening by Scarification. This is a process where you rub the seeds lightly between two sheets of sandpaper. What this does is enables the moisture in the soil to penetrate the seed coat. Seeds with a heavy coat or cover benefit from this.

I use this process for lotus seeds, shrub and tree seeds. Other seeds that will benefit from this process are Burnet, Salad; Clovers; Crane’s-bills; Liquorice Wild; Medic Black; Melilots; rock Rose; Restharrows; Trefoils; Vetches and members of the pea family.

NOTE: Use care when removing part of the sed cover. You want to only remove a small amount. That would be enough to help the interior take in water easier. If you remove to much you will hurt the seed and it may  rot.

Stratification

Stratification is a process I use every year. Quite a few seeds have to be subjected to a period of cold during winter before germination takes place in the spring. So when starting certain seeds you need to create this period of cold by adding the seed to damp sand and putting it in a plastic bag in the fridge for 6-8 weeks. You can also sow them in a cold frame in the autumn.

Species that benefit from this technique are Bellflower clustered, Bluebell, Burnet-Saxifrage, Carrot Wild, Cowslip, Honeysuckle, Lords & Ladies, Mignonette, Ramsons, oxlip, Primrose, Violets, Weld and all Sedges. Basically any perennial seed and about half the flowering shrub seeds that I collect I use this method to help the seed to sprout more naturally. I have a very high germination rate with perennial seed so I feel this process helps.

Sprouting and trees, shrubs and perennials from seed make the winter months go quickly and it fun to see what will grow successfully from a seed.

The only problem I have had from starting seeds this way is that sometimes I start too many of a certain seeds and storage until it’s time to plant the small seedlings, either in the ground or a holding bed, can be challenging.

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Flower transplants have gone up in price in the last few years and with the economy struggling you may want to cut back on flower garden prices.

photo credit: Jiaren Lau

There are several ways to cut costs but still have a beautiful flower garden. I have always had the thought that if you save money in one area in the garden, you can spend it in another . So saving money may actually get me more flowers in the long run!

Cost cutting tips for the flower garden

• Easy to grow annuals such as marigolds, zinnias and poppies are easy to start from seed and have many colors and varieties available. Often these seeds can be found in the low cost section of seeds for less than 40 cents. Start the entire package and trade flower with your neighbors. (One package usually will supply more plants than you need.)
• When the danger of frost is gone, direct sow your seeds into your garden bed. Just make sure you have all the weed roots out of the garden so that weeds will not get a head start over the flower seeds. (I often will start some of my seeds in pots early so that I can set out plants and have flowers faster.)
• Trade seeds with a neighbor to cut back on seed packet costs. Your neighbor may also have extra plants or perennial plants that they need to find a home for.
• Mix in vegetable with you flowers. Swiss Chard, cabbage, gourmet lettuce varieties are all pretty and will add interest to a garden area. So will pepper plants and tomatoes.
• Herbs are also easy to grow and have pretty foliage and flowers. You can add those to your flowerbeds too. Basil plants come in all sizes and colors and would add to any garden and to the kitchen later as spices.
• Sunflowers come in all sizes and colors. They are easy to grow and add color and brighten up any garden area. They also make great cut flowers.
• Buy plants towards the end of the season for discount prices. Just make sure they are still healthy.

Tip: Make sure to deadhead any flowers for a constant supply of new flowers.

You may also check out the seeds available at cheapseeds.com.

And toward the end of the planting season flower seeds will be on sale. If stored properly (in a cool dry place) they will be fine to plant the following year. I also store seeds in glass jars to protect them from moisture and mice)

You may want to collect seeds from you flowers from this year’s garden to plant next year.

And even though flower transplants have gone up in the last year one pack of flowers will bloom the entire summer so actually that’s not a bad price for a summer of color, flowers and enjoyment in your backyard.

Technorati Tags: flower gardening, flowers, frugal flower garden tips, frugal gardening, save money on flowers