Your All Things Plants weekly news: February 16, 2013

There were 14 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By psa February 16, 2013 What is a hybrid seed? What is the difference between open pollinated and heirloom seeds? Hybrid plant varieties do not come true from seed, and seedlings will produce mostly undesirable fruit and/or off-type flowers. Open pollinated and heirloom varieties have been selected over many generations, and you can plant the seeds to get the same type of plant again. (no comments)

By Calsurf73 February 15, 2013 Common Rose Pests With spring just around the corner, we are all looking forward to our gardens coming back to life and seeing everything around us start anew. The onset of spring and all of its marvels can readily be observed as the bare thorny canes of our roses start to swell with their tiny new growth buds bursting forth with new leaves at a rapid rate, almost before our very eyes. They are soon followed by those first treasured blooms we've been anticipating all winter. (1,265 words - Read the full article) (16 comments)

By Porkpal February 15, 2013 A Minimalist Approach to Growing Roses I have found that the secret to growing roses, with very little time and effort devoted to the process, is to choose the right roses. (924 words - Read the full article) (8 comments)

By Calsurf73 February 14, 2013 Common Rose Diseases Anyone who grows roses will at one time or another run into problems with disease. Even the most attentive and hard-core rose enthusiast will encounter this problem because, as we all know, we can't control the weather. The majority of rose diseases that we'll discuss here are weather related. Knowing how to identify and understand the causes of these diseases will make your rose growing endeavors easier and more enjoyable, and your roses will be happier in the long run. (1,300 words - Read the full article) (7 comments)

By Betja February 14, 2013 My Big Adventure in Miniature Rose Hybridizing I began my big adventure in miniature rose hybridizing back in the mid-1980s when I had the great fortune to meet Ralph Moore, who lived less than a hundred miles from Bakersfield in Visalia, CA. He was well known as the “father of miniature roses” and was already in his 70s at that time. When I met him it was as if I’d known him all my life. He encouraged me to jump right in and try hybridizing. (1,053 words - Read the full article) (24 comments)

By dave February 13, 2013 ATP Podcast #6: Roses Week with Mike Shoup This week Dave and Trish give their usual reports: Dave's favorite idea, Trish's report from around the forums, and Dave shares an interesting tip on how to take down huge trees without a chain saw. Our main feature is a special interview with Mike Shoup of the Antique Rose Emporium! (119 words - Read the full article) (14 comments)

By chelle February 13, 2013 Hip, Hip, Hooray for Hipped Roses! Roses that produce hips can be a highly beneficial and attractive addition to your garden. (670 words - Read the full article) (16 comments)

By zuzu February 12, 2013 Stress-Free Rose Pruning This is the time of year when many gardeners feel anxious about the approaching rose pruning season. Much of this anxiety stems from the rules we were once taught. Pruning is much easier than these rules suggest, however, and it may not even be necessary in your garden. (1,707 words - Read the full article) (17 comments)

By Newyorkrita February 12, 2013 Roses in a Cottage Garden I love my roses, but I have never cared for the look of any formal type of garden, not even rose gardens. Instead, I have planted my many roses informally in my garden, which is very much a cottage garden. Take a picture tour with me to see my roses. (274 words - Read the full article) (6 comments)

By dave February 11, 2013 A Huge Roses Not-A-Raffle-Raffle-Ganza! This is our biggest raffle we've ever done, with not 1, not 2, not even 3, but FOUR huge prizes for 4 lucky winners! (345 words - Read the full article) (70 comments)

By Calif_Sue February 11, 2013 An Explanation of Rose Shapes and Types Roses come in an astonishing variety of shapes and sizes that can be used to complement any gardening style, from relaxed cottage gardening to more formal bedding or courtyard schemes. Few flowers can equal the rose for massed effect in the garden, but it is the individual bloom that makes it the "Queen of Flowers." These blooms come in widely diverse shapes, sizes, colors, and scents. Here are some brief descriptions of a few common flower shapes and petal counts, illustrated with photos from our ATP database. (520 words - Read the full article) (17 comments)

By Cottage_Rose February 10, 2013 No-Fuss Roses for Cold Zones After many years of growing mainly fussy and tender hybrid tea roses in rural zone 5, I became discouraged with their failure to do well beyond a season or two. Some seemed to never do well, no matter how well I cared for them. Some would just sit there and not grow or would quickly become naked and ugly from black spot. Reluctant to give up on growing my favorite flower, I did some online research and found information on hardy and easy-to-grow roses. (1,046 words - Read the full article) (11 comments)

By Paul2032 February 10, 2013 Growing Roses in My Utah Garden Roses are considered to be challenging by many gardeners, but here in Utah I have found their care to be quite easy. The rewards during bloom season far exceed the effort needed in order to have a lovely rose garden. A near perfect bloom brings me great pleasure. (849 words - Read the full article) (9 comments)

By skiekitty February 10, 2013 Growing Roses in Colorado Roses: Ah, the "Queen of Flowers," the most popular flower given to sweethearts on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and even "oops, I messed up, honey, but here's a bouquet to make it better" day. You can grow roses! (1,954 words - Read the full article) (6 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Amazon Lily (Eucharis grandiflora) by plantladylin: Photo of Iris (Iris 'Reckless Abandon') by KentPfeiffer: Photo of Fairy Primrose (Primula malacoides) by Paul2032: Photo of (Cyrtanthus o'brienii) by xeronema: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Switched at Birth') by vic: Photo of Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum 'Crispyn') by Cruddy:

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
*NEW* SALE Lily, Clemantis, Gladiolus, Dahlias, Cannas,and more?.....ChefMike	chefmike92	Co-ops, Group Buys and Classifieds forum	51
SDB Pictures	ARUBA1334	Irises forum	48
Announcing the winners of the Roses Raffle!	dave	A Huge Roses Not-A-Raffle-Raffle-Ganza!	45
ATP ORVG Tread for February 2013	Henryr10	Ohio River Valley Gardening forum	31
propagated succulent leaves with ATP's help (now what)	jojoe	Cactus and Tender Succulents forum	30
What's the smallest seed that you have sown?	Joannabanana	Seeds forum	28
In honor of rose week.....roses from my garden	Paul2032	Roses forum	27
Auction vendor	mistyfog	Daylilies forum	24
Roses Not-A-Raffle-Raffle-Ganza!	valleylynn	A Huge Roses Not-A-Raffle-Raffle-Ganza!	23

Some new recommendations from our members:

Marilyn recommended Ashwood Garden Daylilies and wrote: Richard Norris is great and so is his company and the daylilies he sends! I ordered 2 or 3 times from him and each time was positive. I even met him once and heard him give a talk on his own introductions of Daylilies and he is just as nice and friendly in person as his on the phone! Great service! Healthy and big fans! Would order again! Wonderful bonus gift fans! Highly recommended! A+

Marilyn recommended Brent and Becky's Bulbs and wrote: I've ordered from them two or three times and have been happy! The bulbs are nice and firm and all were true to name! Wonderful place to order from! Great service! Highly recommended! A+

Horseshoe recommended Gardener's Supply Company and wrote: Gardener's Supply Company offers quite a range of products. Selling anything from fertilizers to bug control products to hand tools and more. Their catalog and their website are both a good source of information for learning about pest control, identifying bugs and which product is recommended to use. Shipping has been fairly quick each time I've ordered. I can't comment on Customer Service since I've never had to contact them. Then again, since I've ordered from them off and on over the past 15 years perhaps it speaks volumes all my orders went w/out a glitch.

Marilyn recommended Marietta Daylily Gardens and wrote: I've ordered from several times and have always been happy! The plants and fans I received from them were wonderful! All green and healthy when they arrived! All were true to name! Great bonus fans! Highly recommended! A+

valleylynn recommended Territorial Seed Company and wrote: I have purchased seed and plants from Territorial Seed Company for many years. I have never been disappointed in either seeds or plants. I love that I can trust the plants I get from them will do well in my growing conditions. They are a great company to do business with. Artichoke plants from TSC.

Some numbers from last week:

• 89 new members.
• 127 new threads.
• 2,965 new posts.
• 1,383 new images to the plant database.
• 336 new comments in the plant database.