Gardening with Roses: A Practical and Inspirational Guide by Patrick Taylor was published in 1995. I find this book quite educational. Most rose gardens I've visited were dedicated exclusively to rose bushes. I really like Taylor's practical illustrations of roses being grown in perennial beds rather than off by themselves.
Taylor talks briefly about the history of roses in the introduction to the book. I was startled to learn that roses are native only to the northern hemisphere and only 100-150 species exist. This means all our rose hybrids are various combinations of these species. He also presents a description of each rose classification along with information on when they first originated. He briefly discusses rose culture and possible problems. I love his philosophy of growing roses: let the roses take care of themselves with nothing more than good feeding. He avoids using chemicals to control disease problems.
Taylor states:
It is unwise to plant a new rose where there was a rose before without taking precautions.f The new rose may otherwise suffer from 'rose sickness', caused by a build-up of infections to which roses are especially susceptible. To protect a new rose, a substantial quantity of the old soil, at leaset 24in/60cm cubic volume snhould either be sterilised or replaced with fresh soil. [page21]
I wonder if this is the reason all my roses fail? I've never attempted this type of project before planting roses. However, I have no idea if other residents may have grown roses in the identical spot.
I am very disappointed that Taylor failed to provide any diagrams of how to properly prune a rose. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures would have permitted me to understand his text better. He does mention when each group should be pruned as well as discussing the "training" of roses grown in formal gardens.
The rest of the book consists of chapters on each rose classification. Every rose discussed is illustrated with a picture showing both the foliage and the flower. A brief blurb in the margin gives at least the country and year of origin along with the name of the breeder if known. Height and growing zone is provided too. This makes it easy to scan through the various chapters specifically looking for roses hardy to your particular growing zone. Detailed information on the rose history and its cultivation is also provided. Occasionally he suggests perennials that would set the particular rose hybrid off well in the garden. I was strongly disappointed to see that none of the miniature or dwarf roses were covered.
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