Choosing Roses

Roses are one of America's most favorite plants. They are easy to grow with great payoffs of gorgeous flowers.

Roses are deciduous plants, they lose their leaves and kind of sleep every year. The deciduous state is also the best time to buy your roses from your local nursery or from the comfort of your armchair with a gardening catalogue in hand.

Either way, you can pick and choose a rose perfect for you. There are some roses that need to be in everyone's garden.

For instance, Double Delight has a creamy white flower with a reddish/pink fringe and the fragrance is out of this world. A traditional deep velvety rose would be Mr. Lincoln. Or, if you are on the wild side, the peppermint-looking George Burns rose is an interesting cultivar.

You can wait until spring or summer to buy your roses if you wish -- however, they pretty much are picked over and you are not getting the best of the crop.