Winter Weather & Most Fragrant Roses
By Ken Lain, The Garden Guy

Last week’s gardening class was four times what I had anticipated. With nearly 80 enthusiastic gardeners attending, we not only ran out of chairs but I ran out of wildflower seed as well! The good news is that I just received the freshest shipment with every variety of wildflower seed. If you missed this wildflower class please ask for my new handout on how to plant wildflowers correctly.

Today’s gardening class, “Pruning 101 & Composting for Better Gardens”, begins at 9:30am. You will leave knowing exactly how to prune fruit and shade trees, natives, perennials, and herbs. Parking isn’t a problem, but seating is limited and hard on the anatomy. To ensure you have a comfortable seat, I suggest that you bring your own “more accommodating” lawn chair. As usual, class is free and there is always plenty of time for lots of questions. The complete spring class schedule is posted on the web site, www.wattersonline.com.

The last few landscapes I have walked with customers this week have left me concerned for two reasons. One, because we’ve had no measurable rain in a month, landscapes look stressed, and two, because I'm not sure this weekend’s storm will bring much moisture. Moisture is very important to water-stressed landscapes. Turn the irrigation on in the middle of a nice day and let it run a full cycle. Continue watering every couple of weeks if we don’t get enough rain through March. This will ensure healthy new growth as plants exhibit signs of life this spring. Our weather has been so warm that even evergreens will be damaged by the next windy cold front. Dry plants hit by severe cold will show signs of tip burn or winter kill.

It is time to plant roses and my advice is to stay away from bare root roses. A bare root plant is shipped with no soil adhering to its roots in order to reduce shipping costs. The school of hard knocks has taught me that the combination of our arid climate and prevailing spring winds create a nearly insurmountable challenge for bare root plants. Because of repeated lack of success with bare root roses, I never plant them in my own yard. Consequently, I refuse to sell bare root roses to my customers.

Not only is the rate of survival far greater with container plants than with bare roots, but, because they are a full two years older, they produce much larger blooms within the first year of planting. Of course, I have dozens of varieties of roses in stock; but today I’m only going to name the most fragrant for our local gardens. Without reservation I recommend Double Delight, Fragrant Cloud, Brandy, Lagerfeld, Tropicana, Perfume Delight, Dolly Parton, Chrysler Imperial, Heirloom, Arizona, and Bewitched. For a pure fragrance and exceptionally beautiful blooms, Double Delight is probably the number one choice. When you come in to make your selections remember to ask for my printed handout for growing better roses.

With the economy so weak this spring, I urge you to support local garden centers. Seed catalogs and internet sites are fun to browse through, but at a neighborhood garden center you will find experienced help in selecting from the different seeds and plants uniquely suited for this altitude. Equally important is that dollars spent locally stay in the local economy to support jobs and taxes for this part of our state. As most of my seedlings and vegetables, trees and shrubs are all grown right here in Yavapai County, even the wholesale level is impacted from buying locally. Pick your favorite garden center and support it; your business is appreciated even more than usual these days.

This past week I have met customers from Montana, Michigan, Illinois, and Maine, and their stories of daunting heating bills, bitter cold, dirty snow, and ice storms cause me to appreciate how nice our last few weeks have been. I truly love living, working, and gardening in the mountains of Arizona.

Until next week, I’ll see you in the garden center.

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