Roses

Morgana wrote:

Envy wrote:

How did you all come across roses you liked and their names? I tried searching online (whilst imagining my future garden) and it was extremely difficult to find different types of roses to choose from.

You could try browsing around a garden center, so you can see in person what the flowers look like, and of course what they smell like as well.

In Canada, most of the big grocery and home improvment stores have \"garden centers\" from about May until July. But the selection tends to be pretty poor, and what they do have is not usually in the best of condition. You'd be better off to go to an actual year-round garden center, where the staff would be able to answer questions and give recommendations.

Ah..I was curious as to whether people ran into plants they liked randomly and then looked into them, or whether there was a way of finding something you would like, e.g. browsing by colour online, if you catch my drift?

The only plants I've known about are ones that pop up in gardening shows that my dad and brother used to watch and even then, I never saw much that was to my tastes. They've started watching some strange program about catching swordfish/spider crabs/lobsters/fish in general instead now, so I'm pretty clueless when it comes to plants.

Envy wrote:

Morgana wrote:

Envy wrote:

How did you all come across roses you liked and their names? I tried searching online (whilst imagining my future garden) and it was extremely difficult to find different types of roses to choose from.

You could try browsing around a garden center, so you can see in person what the flowers look like, and of course what they smell like as well.

In Canada, most of the big grocery and home improvment stores have \"garden centers\" from about May until July. But the selection tends to be pretty poor, and what they do have is not usually in the best of condition. You'd be better off to go to an actual year-round garden center, where the staff would be able to answer questions and give recommendations.

Ah..I was curious as to whether people ran into plants they liked randomly and then looked into them, or whether there was a way of finding something you would like, e.g. browsing by colour online, if you catch my drift?

The only plants I've known about are ones that pop up in gardening shows that my dad and brother used to watch and even then, I never saw much that was to my tastes. They've started watching some strange program about catching swordfish/spider crabs/lobsters/fish in general instead now, so I'm pretty clueless when it comes to plants.

There are probably ways to browse online, but I tend to prefer checking out the garden centers in person. You have to consider the growing conditions as well (quality of soil, amount of rain/sun/wind, what zone you're in), not just whether you like the plant or not. So I like to go where I can ask questions and get advice from people who know what they're talking about! I know what plants I think are pretty, but I'm not a green-thumb by any stretch...

I also like going to garden centers near my house, because those plants have a lot better chance of survival if they were raised in my climate, in similar soil, etc. I have had a lot better luck with locally bought plants rather than ones I have been sent from mail-order houses. Although, I have had really good luck with Jackson Perkins, and really good luck with growing plants from seeds (when I actually have the patience and time to bother with it). Usually I just grow grass from seed, and 90% of that becomes bird food. I have a very bare area in my back yard that just won't grow a lawn.

You can get lawn seed that are combined with a compound that fertilizes it and acts to cover the seeds so that they don't blow away or get eaten. Kind of makes it look like a bag full of dryer lint. Maybe that would work for you if you can find it.

I have seen the \"dryer lint\" grass seed, but didn't buy it last time because it was more expensive, and I am a really cheap sort. But I will give it a try this spring. Once all the snow finishes melting. If that ever happens again.

I'm also one more for garden centers. The problem I find with some plants is that with the Mediterranean climate here and our \"red\" soil (it's full of aluminium oxides) some plans just wont grow. I have a beautiful big Camellia in my garden but my dad had to dig a hole in the garden so we could put it in with the whole container and \"black\" soil; now people who know their plants here often ask us how come our Camellia is still alive, as they don't see the container.

Also, a good place to buy (in my opinion ten times better) is from your local botanical garden or forestry faculty (naturally if you have one near you). The botanical garden here in Zagreb sells all their \"leftovers\" (they grow plants for need of the garden themselves) to the public and those are all plants that never saw anything artificial, just plain regular soil and horse dung, ergo healthy and resistant. I find a lot of the fancy garden centers fill their plants with all kinds of stuff so the leaves are more green, that it growes faster etc. and those aren't really healthy plants and will likely die very fast after you plant them.