I must not be a writer as I have to write and rewrite and re- wright. If I tried a novel, it would take me ten years!

Rita and all that read this post,

Please do not feel that there are folks critiquing your writing style. It is an absolute treat that people will share their gardening experiences and knowledge. Seriously..... we all look forward to everyone sharing their tips and the "trialed & true" experience. That's what makes ATP special.
Joanne
Don't be shy...Share your gardening passion!

I read a novel last year by a woman who had spent more than 50 years writing the book. About half of the almost 1500 pages were intensely boring, but I felt obligated to read the whole thing after she took such pains to write it.

I would second that and encourage everyone to add their Gardening Ideas. I personally enjoy writing them even though it is sometimes slow going.

zuzu said:I read a novel last year by a woman who had spent more than 50 years writing the book. About half of the almost 1500 pages were intensely boring, but I felt obligated to read the whole thing after she took such pains to write it.

Well, I try to not be so boring!

Ok, this year I WILL get an article or two finished. No excuses. I'll make it happen.
I've taken some photos of shipments as they come in if anyone needs them. I have both potted plants in boxes and bare roots. I even could take one today of a bare root rose in my suitcase, fresh from California...
I could do a short one on visiting public rose gardens, how I do that to help me select roses for my own garden.
Or taking care of roses in extreme conditions.
One on color combinations with other plants? I would need some other photos for that as my roses aren't as nice as ones you guys show.
Or maybe one on my first experience at a sanctioned rose show, from a total newbie position.

Those all sound like they would make excellent articles! Go for it!

I agree with Rita. Those sound like great topics.

I have an article done and need to get it posted. Will be including some of my pictures. If anyone needs pictures you are welcome to use any of mine.........

Cindi, your experience at the rose show sounds like a particularly interesting topic.

I agree with Zuzu, and I like all of the other ideas, too.

Thank you, Paul.

Newyorkrita said:I finially started working on my Spray and Fertilizing Rose Article. Coming along well but I can see it is going to take me days to get this done! I can only work for so long and then seem to run out of steam for the subject matter. No point in pushing it at that stage as the brain has shut down.

Have all my text written finially. Need to add pictures. I skip days between getting back to work but my goal is to finish and have it sent off before the New Year. I might get done faster if I wasn't trying to write an article for Tomatoes week simultaneously.

I should get going on mine, too, Rita. Thank you for the reminder.

At least for me it takes awhile as I have to go back and polish my writing. Didn't work on it any yesterday so still not done. And there are days when I can't write as the brain seems to be blank. Other days I do well with inspiration and ideas.

So I recommend not leaving things until the last minute.

Things I'd love to read about as a rose-novice (unless they are already done, or all the topics are set, of course!):

thorn-less roses?
gloves to protect your hands (am I right that some people use a kind of chain-mail glove to handle stems?)
definitely containers for roses
based on the root discussion of body bags ... do we need to 'grow out' bare root plants first, and if so, how?
what the heck are bands??? lol
how do you winter roses over in the different zones?
do tree roses grow taller over time, or is the grafted 'trunk' mature and no longer expanding?

... just a few questions tickling the back of my head as I wait for spring deliver of my very first rose...

Hi, Tina. Here are a few quick answers to the questions that allow for quick answers:

Tree rose trunks do not grow taller. The only part of a tree rose that continues to grow is the top portion, which is grafted onto the trunk.

Rose bands are the small containers in which many own-root nurseries offer their products. They're less than half the size of a gallon container. I don't have any to measure, but I'd estimate that they're about 3 inches square at the top and 6 inches deep.

The roots on body-bag roses sometimes have been pruned so radically that they can't support the top growth. If a body-bag rose has inadequate roots, the canes of the rose must be pruned down, approximately to the same length as the roots.

I think CindiKS is writing an article about growing roses in containers. In any case, it's too complex a subject to cover in a few sentences.

The same is true of overwintering, and I'm not the person to ask anyway because I live in zone 9.

Thornless roses are a delight and are especially wonderful near children's play structures, near entryways, and along narrow pathways. Many roses are thornless or almost thornless. You can find a list of them if you go to the main page of the Roses Database and click on "Search by characteristics."

The Roses Database

On the search query page, scroll down about halfway to the "Misc" section, check the box for "Thornless or almost thornless," and click on "Search." You'll get a long list of roses. (I'd do this for you, but our search engine isn't sensitive enough to provide links to the results. My link would only take you to the blank search query page.)

Chain-mail gloves sound great, but I've never seen any. I wear Atlas Thermal gloves every day of the year, and they offer me enough protection. If I'm going to be pruning some roses with dense growth and nasty thorns, I wear gauntlet gloves to protect my arms.

Tina,
Here's a link to the place where I buy all my gloves:
http://www.harlane.com/index.p...
I first found the Harlane company at a master gardener plant sale in Atlanta. When I tried on the gloves, I was skeptical because the goat skin was so soft and supple. I bought them anyway, and five years later, they are still my best gloves. I have both the short gloves and gauntlets.
Gauntlets have thicker material up the arms. They are super comfortable, and the only problem is remembering to take them off before I go to pull weeds. They are made specifically for pruning thorny shrubs and trees, not for heavy digging. They happen to be on sale right now--a real bargain when you consider how they are made to last.
The webpage says they were made specifically for people with arthritis and carpal tunnel issues. I have rheumatoid arthritis in my hands and had carpal tunnel release surgery a few years ago. When I wear these gloves and use my #8 Felcos, I can prune 100 roses without stopping.
A quick google search brings up several places to purchase the Harlane gloves and Felco pruners.
Good luck with your first rose! Check in here often! We love to help!

Geez...I'm still trying to locate appropriate pictures! The first year I winter planted roses I didn't even have a decent digital camera, but I'm nearly certain that I took some pictures of the process. The again, I might have psyched myself out of it by thinking that no one would really want to see the goofy gal planting dead-looking "sticks" in the snow! It's not exactly visually exciting, that's for sure.

Try to take pictures of everything I do. That way, if I need too I can always have pictures of my projects.

Does anyone else have any photos that will help Chelle?