All About Roses: Growing roses the simple, easy and natural way

Roses are ancient. According to fossil evidence the rose could be tens of millions of years old and cultivation of roses possibly began in China thousands of years ago.

And aren't we glad of that? For what a joy it is to wander through a rose garden in flower; the colour, beauty and variety of the blooms, the evocative scent, the gentle buzzing of bees, the sensory pleasure and that 'oh my' moment when you wish your own garden was as magnificent.

But hey growing roses is a skill for the experienced and dedicated rosarian - isn't it?

Well not according to rose expert Diana Sargeant.

Her new edition book All About Roses promises, if you follow her advice, you too can grow the most gorgeous roses, easily and naturally and your rose garden will be a place for you to rest and nurture all your senses.

According to Diana roses are easy to grow and the aim of the book is to help you to grow and enjoy them in your own garden.

Roses may be for 'giving' but according to Diana they are so 'forgiving'. "Not even your best friend will be as kind as your first rose," says the book, which has been written for people who want to grow roses but don't have a clue how; for people who care about the environment and would love to grow healthy, productive roses without using harsh chemicals.

Filled with the most beautiful photographs of roses of all different colours and varieties All About Roses is a joy to pick and read or just scan through the pages enjoying the images and picking up snippets of marvellous gardening knowhow. It's a must for the rose lover and the everyday gardener.

From designing a rose garden with some drawings to help, to dealing with pests, choosing your roses, rose propagation for the home garden - yes you can take cuttings even though nearly all roses in commercial production are budded onto rose understock.

The book touches on the best weather for roses, soil and fertilizer, mulching, the dreaded weeds, suckering understock, watering, tools, season by season rose management and the meaning of the different colours - we all know red roses are for love.

Heritage roses, modern roses, climbers, hybrids. the different shapes of the flowers, the scents, what the abbreviations mean when you buy a rose eg: my - medium yellow, dr dark red or pb pink blend.

All About Roses is a one-stop information source to help you grow roses at home in your own garden

Author Diana Sargeant has been a consulting rosarian for 40 years, designing private and public rose gardens, presenting on radio talkback gardening programs, doing stints on television and talking with customers at the Silkies Rose Farm at Clonabine located 60kms north of Melbourne. Her passion is to assist gardeners to create environmentally friendly rose gardens - 'do it once, do it right' being her motto.

There is a website www.rosesalesonline.com.au where, through vast descriptions and beautiful photographs, you can purchase roses which can be posted year round.