On Mon, 03 Mar 2003 02:33:42 GMT, "Allegra"
wrote:


"KAren Jones" wrote in message
arthlink.net...
I was wondering if anyone could help me since I am new to the gardening
scene! I was given a climbing rose bush for valentines day that was
purchased from lowes. It is currently on my kitchen counter in a wrap that
lowes put on it. Its about a 3 gal plant. I have been watering it and it
is
sprouting new growth all over itself! My question is when do I put it
outside? I don't want to kill it and I have no idea when is a good time to
plant it!I live in Nashville Tn so its still alittle cold here. Any ideas
would be GREAT! Karen

Hello Karen,

Welcome to the group and to growing roses!

I guess your weather still kind of wintry so I would
like to suggest one of two things: if you have a garage,
how about to move that rose to the garage, provide a
growing light for it (since it has already broken dormancy)
any good old lamp with some single growing bulb will
do, make sure to water your rose about every other day .
They need a lot of water while inside - they do outside
too, but inside they are little sponges because normally
the environment is drier inside) and wait until the
temperatures climb up a bit.

Second: if you have a protected area where you could
put the rose near a southern wall for instance, that
would be great, because it would harden and there is
a chance that wouldn't suffer any damage. I am assuming
the rose is in a pot? If not, I guess we are talking bare root
here. In which case, get yourself at least a 5-gallon pot
and some good soil, put a layer of gravel or whatever
you have handy to help drain well at the bottom and
plant that climber in that pot until you can get it
outside and plant it where you want the rose to grow.

What is the name of your rose? Not all climbers are
created equal and some can get pretty big so it will
help you to find out how big she will get before
deciding where are you going to plant her.
Here is a link to a place where you can learn a lot about
that rose and others, although I am sure the rest of
the group here will give you good advice to keep
your valentine alive and happy.

Good luck,

Allegra

http://www.helpmefind.com/sites/rrr/rosetest.html

All good advice.

Actually, now is the perfect time to put it into the ground here in
Nashville. Sure it's still cold. But the cold days are going to get
further and further apart. You'll lose a little bit of growth, but you
don't want to wait very long to get it into the ground. The cold
ground temps will help keep it "semi-dormant" until it warms up for
good (around 1 April or so). The next month will give it a chance to
settle in as well before it really starts to grow. This is actually
the most ideal time to plant.

BTW, are we *ever* going to see the sun again?

Note to those outside of Nashville - we've set a new record for the
number of consecutive non-sun days (defined as 15 minutes or less sun
each 24 hr period). I think we're at 16 now (this current string
started on Valentine's Day).