Roses
If you love roses, Colorado provides a great growing climate so be sure to include them on your garden list. Because there are so many different types, there are roses to fill nearly every gardener growing needs.
Don’t be confused about all the types available. The main thing is to find a color you like. Then check the general height for that variety. Most garden varieties are going to average 24-48” in height.
Growing roses in the garden is arguably one of the most popular gardening flowers. Rose bushes will grow well in most urban and suburban areas of Colorado provided they are given adequate sunshine (at least 6-8 hours) and are irrigated regularly. Creek Side Gardens offers more than 60 varieties in shades of red, pink, purple, white, yellow, orange, peach and bicolors, grown right here in Colorado.
Rose Types
Rose bushes generally fall into one of the following types: hybrid tea, grandiflora, floribunda, miniature, climbing and shrub. The most popular types are the classic hybrid tea and grandiflora which produce many blooms for enjoyment in the garden or may be cut and enjoyed in a vase in your home.
The all-purpose floribunda has become more popular recently especially because it may be a little more winter hardy and disease tolerant. The long arching canes belong to the climbers which can reach as tall as 8′-10′ and require support on a fence or trellis. The versatile shrub rose is typically very hardy and will grow large enough to create a shrub-like form in the landscape. Miniature roses are excellent choices for small spaces or even growing in a container. These beautiful plants are easy to care for and will bloom non-stop all season long.
If you are small space gardening or container gardening, consider growing a miniature variety like the Sunblaze series from Star Roses and Plants, one of the leading rose breeders in the country. Miniatures are available in a wide color selection and will bloom continuously all summer. Just keep them well watered and fertilized like all roses.
Another great selection from Star Roses are the ever-popular KnockOut series. A small space, ground bed shrub rose available in a wide selection of colors. KnockOuts are very hardy and easy to grow.
Creek Side Gardens roses will be available right around the first of May. Please check out our website for additional information about the rose selection for 2022.
Growing Care
Provide high light, including several hours of direct sunlight and plan to water and fertilize your roses regularly for the best results. Use our Jacks All-Purpose fertilizer mixed in a watering can and applied monthly. Or use Fertilome 2 in 1 Rose and Flower Food with systemic insecticide applied to the soil at the base of the plant monthly and scratched into the surface of the soil.
Pest Control
Plan on a pest control program as roses can be prone to aphids, mites and powdery mildew. Use Fertilome 2 in 1 Rose and Flower Food with systemic insecticide. And/ or spray occasionally during the season with Fertilome Triple Action.
When the flowers fade and fall apart, cut the stem below the old flower right above the second or third leaf below the flower. That is where a new flower bud will come from. Cut the tops off the stems in the fall but wait until spring to cut the rose stems down closer to the base of the plant. That is where the new stems will come from in the spring.
Peonies
Peonies are probably the second most popular garden plant. Often, they hold a sentimental place in a gardener’s heart, possibly because Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa grew them in their garden.
Like roses, peonies require high light including a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight. Once established, peonies do not have as high a water and fertilizer requirement as roses. Regular irrigations are necessary, and fertilizer should be provided at the beginning of the growing season and another application heading into the fall.
Because they are long lived, soil preparation, incorporating Natures Yield Compost is important at planting time. Do not plant too deep. Plan on providing a peony cage around the plant to hold up the large heavy blossoms.
Creek Side plants big peony roots into large pots in the fall. The roots begin to grow feeder roots throughout the winter with new sprouts emerging in the spring. Though there are many varieties to choose from, Creek Side will off the classic red, Karl Rosenfeld, pink Felix Crousse, light pink Sarah Bernhardt and white Festiva Maxima.
Creek Side Grown Fresh peonies are planted in the fall and ready for sale by mid-April 2022.
