The classic guide fully updated and expanded with the addition of over 25 hardy rose cultivars.
In Hardy Roses, author Bob Osborne shares his decades of experience raising roses without any chemicals in some of the coldest winters. Roses need not be intimidating and doomed to inevitable failure, regardless of the climate. With this indispensable guide, northern gardeners can enjoy that early snowstorm confident that their carefully tended roses will survive.
For this new edition of his classic guide, Osborne has fully revised and updated his text. In the first part of the book, he carefully guides readers through the process of selecting, planting and caring for roses, touching on topics such as overwintering, pests and diseases, and propagation as he goes along. The second section profiles over 100 hardy rose cultivars divided into four main categories: climbers, tall shrubs, semi-vigorous shrubs and low shrubs. The guide also features a North American zone map and a detailed chart of hardy cultivars -- ideal to use while shopping -- describing color, form, hardiness, zone, vigor, fragrance, season, disease susceptibility and much more.
More than 125 exquisite photographs convey the roses' subtle coloration and beauty, and detailed line drawings illustrate the best planting, maintaining and propagating techniques for hardy roses. As the only authoritative book on growing roses in colder climates, Hardy Roses is essential reading for gardeners who want to experience the joy of cultivating these beautiful plants.
Bob Osborne is the owner of Corn Hill Nursery in New Brunswick, Canada. He is a gardening author, a columnist on CBC radio and a member of several horticultural organizations.
Beth Powning has photographed three previous books. In addition to being a photographer, Beth is a novelist and essayist whose work includes the bestselling Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life, The Hatbox Letters and The Sea Captain's Wife.
In Canada, we're lucky to have Hardy Roses... Each edition of this classic gets better -- more hardy roses (now more than 100 cultivars) profiled, and more growing information on planting, wintering over and pruning. There are detailed instructions on propagating roses and how to fend off diseases and pests, although most of Osborne's recommendations are disease-resistant.
The book is beautifully illustrated and contains countless tips on growing your favourite roses.
This is a great book for those new to rose growing or someone who has grown roses for awhile and wants to expand the selection of roses in their garden... Hardy Roses has succinct sections on rose care, covering siting, drainage, soil pH and fertility; pruning; and diseases and pests. Illustrations are particularly helpful in the siting and pruning sections... Hardy Roses is a well-designed, useful guide to growing roses in the North.