1. The Climate

Climate describes the long term weather patterns of an area. The area can be large as a region of a country or as small as a garden. The factors to consider are the:

• Humidity
• Temperature
• Wind
• Sunlight
• Precipitation

A gardener can discover something of the climate in their area when they look on a hardiness zone map. Though these maps don’t give much information about how much sun, wind or rain an area gets, they do tell a potential gardener the average minimum temperature of their area. The Department of Agriculture divides the United States into at least 11 hardiness zones. This lets a gardener know the coldest temperatures a plant can tolerate.

Fortunately, plant catalogs, seed packets and the instructions that come with transplants let the gardener know the hardiness zones where the plant can thrive. Most plants do well in more than one hardiness zone. A tough plant such as ansonia can thrive from hardiness zone 3, which is found in upper Maine, to hardiness zone 10, which is found in southern Florida.

The one caveat is that flowers are far more tender than the plants they grow on. A plant may withstand an unusually late frost, but its flowers may be lost.

2. The Soil

Gardening experts claim that nothing is more important for the growth of plants and flowers as well-prepared soil. As there are several types of climate, there are several types of soil, though the main categories are clay, silt and sand. These soils are determined by the size of their particles.

• Clay particles are less than 1/256 millimeters in diameter.
• Silt has particles that are between 1/16 and 1/256 mm in diameter.
• Particles of sand are between 1/16 and 2 mm in diameter. Sand can be very fine, fine, medium, coarse or very coarse. A person can usually feel the grains of sand when they hold it.

It’s unusual for any one soil sample to be all of one texture, but a gardener can tell if a soil is silty or clayey because it is heavy, hard to turn over and sticks to the shovel. These soils have lots of nutrients. but they’re so compact that air and water can’t get to the plant’s roots. Sandy soil is so light and loose that it can’t hold on to water or nutrients and can’t anchor a plant properly.

The best soil for most plants is loam, which is about 20 percent clay and about 40 percent each of sand and silt.

The pH of the soil is also vitally important. Most plants like their soil just a bit acidic. If a gardener doesn’t know the soil’s pH, they can buy a kit at a gardening center that can test it. One interesting thing to know is that pH levels can influence the colors of flowers. Hydrangeas grown in acidic soil produce blue flowers, while hydrangeas grown in alkaline soil produce pink or red flowers.

3. Sun Exposure

Flowers bloom in conditions of full sun to full shade. Some demand one or the other. Others can blossom in bright sunlight to partial shade. The gardener needs to know what sort of sun exposure the property gets at different times of the year.

4. Is the Plant an Annual or a Perennial?

An annual is a plant that blossoms once and dies, while a perennial blossoms its life, which can be surprisingly long in some species. The attraction of annuals for most gardeners is that they tend to have spectacular flowers. If a gardener wants permanence as well as plants that are robust as well as beautiful, they grow a perennial garden, and supplement it with annuals and bulbs.

5. Design

Designing the garden is a long process but a great deal of fun. Sketching the house and property to scale on a piece of graph paper and depicting which areas get full sun, partial sun or shade, drawing existing plants and outbuildings, noting places that have poor drainage, good views, poor views or no privacy gives the gardener a rough idea of where flowers can be planted to their best advantage. Later, deciding whether a garden is informal or formal and choosing the right plants adds to the pleasure.

After this comes the hard work.

Taking these five things into account well before the first bit of soil is even turned over goes a long way in creating a memorable, beautiful and long-lasting garden.

One of the most revered of all flowers is the rose; many people who so enjoy the flowers however, have no idea of what steps to take when planting roses.

Roses are favorites for many reasons.  Many color variations, the incredibly heady scent and the visual appeal of a bush covered with lush blooms are just some of the reasons for planting roses in your yard. This flower has been the cause of many perfumes, many quotes and many emotional expressions to be displayed. 

Planting roses can be a simple matter.  A mostly sunny spot in the yard will do just fine; an area that receives at least four hours of invigorating sun rays is best.  Roses love moisture, but not swampy conditions.  There are different methods of building up soil conditions so that they will be rose-worthy, so checking with your local nursery on that fact when choosing your type of rosebush will help the success of your roses. 

What type of roses suits your personality?  There are groundcover roses, bush roses and hedge roses.  Climbing roses versus bush roses will depend on the area they are being planted.  Climbers require some type of structure to lean upon; a wall, trellis, fence, pagoda or other similar structure will provide the stability these beauties need.  Tea roses, miniatures, and hybrids are all terms that apply to planting roses.  Check the pictures on the plants you are considering for purchase; they will provide a picture of the end result and give specifics on the type of rose and the conditions they require to help you make your decision.

A couple of other terms that may be encountered when choosing a plant are either bare-root or container, as they apply to the type of roses.   Bare root roses are the type that might be received from a mail order.  These need to be planted when the plant is still dormant; you will need to know your planting zone in order to follow these specifics.  Planting roses of the container variety is a much easier task; simply dig a hole the same depth of the pot so that the soil level in the ground matches that of the pot.  These types of roses can be planted at seasons that differ from other types. 

Planting roses doesn’t need to be a difficult task.  With so many varieties and hybrids being introduced continually, nurseries generally find that printing explicit directions on the package of the plant helps gardeners to get the most of their rosebush.  By providing full directions on these plant packages, more and more gardeners are discovering that planting roses is becoming an easier and more successful venture than they originally thought it to be.