To receive a cut Rose on Valentine's day is a lovely present but also to receive many with the number of flowers sending a direct message to you is very romantic. This is an ancient tradition. Down to the colour of the Roses chosen there is a particular meaning. However when you do give to someone a Rose's Root, there is an ever lasting intention from the gesture. It does feel nice when you receive that present. I can tell you that from experience. It means the longevity of love that gives and gives again, that blossoms for a long time, may be through every season. Have you ever seen a Rose in Winter? I have.

So a Rose's Root is the ultimate present, a blessing to watch, look after and see it grow. Depending on the variety of  Rose chosen, you can have the result of it within the same, while for other it takes two to three years to get established. For exemple a climbing Rose will take two to three years to reach its full height. Myself I tend to chose bush Roses.

It goes without saying that to see the first blossom coming from a Rose Roots take patience and time. However it does provide a huge sense of excitement and achievement. Some points that need to be made is that to read the instructions coming usually with the Rose Roots are important to follow for the best results. Hoverwise there is the internet in order to research how to grow from the start a certain variety of Roses. A long list of websites are dedicated to the keen gardeners, for exemple: the RHS one (Royal Horticultural Society), Gardeners World, to name only a couple, but there are much more out there.

From experience, it is not that complicated to plant a Rose Root this is to demistify the myth that it is. One important point to not forget is to rehydrate your Root first by soaking the Roots into a bucket of water for a few hours, but to leave the green top bit outside of the water.  For safety make sure you wear gardening gloves for the entire handling process of dealing with Roses, for it can be a prickly affair.

Another point to take care of is to chose the perfect spot to plant your Rose Roots straight within the ground or within a large container. Mainly Roses prefer a sun position  or a dappled one. Now a very good season to plant a Rose Root however is Winter as it with beneficate from the Spring rain and all the beginning of the warming season to grow. Your Rose may then flower in the late Summer or within the start of the Autumn. The three Rose Roots you see in the above picture all did so apart for Rhaspody in Blue whih gave us flowers early Summer.

The Blue Rose: Rhaspody in Blue fully opened.

When planting a Rose Root, it is good to unsure that there are enough space for the Root to fully develop in the ground or in a large enough pot. It will help the Plant to establish strongly and fully. As a rule of thumb dig a hole twice as long as the Roots of the Rose itself.  When you plant the Rose unsure that you do not cover the green part, stop at the first brown nodule, trunk like which you don't cover as well.

Roses do like a rich soil. So preparing a full of nutrients mix for them is a must with some mulsh, compost. The top around the Rose Root must be tapped to anchor it firmly to the ground. Finish off with more mulsh to protect the Roots from frost if planting in Winter, after giving another good watering to the Rose to give it a good start in life. Remember that Roses are very thirsty Plants.

Here we go in a nutshell what to do to enjoy beautiful Roses for many years to come.

The happy outcome of my Valentine day present of the Rose Root 'Remember Me'.