"neeven2" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm a little new to all of this. I need generalized info about what to
do and when. Like how often to I fertilize? My bushes are being eaten.
Do praying mantis work? If not what does? I read alot of about things
that need to be done but no way to do them. Exactly how to you prune a
bush? Do you just cut off branchs or should there be a method to it?
Breeding. Everyonoe talks about it, but not how to do it. The bushes I
have now are a few weeks into bloom. The blooms only last a day or two.
Is there a way to make them last longer? If anyone has information or
knows where to get some, please let me know.

There are some great books on roses. The cheaper
ones, like Ortho's All About Roses and the Sunset
series, were my starter books on roses and I still
have and USE them often, even though my rose library
now numbers in the dozens. You can even often find
these books in used bookstores and basic rose care
information doesn't go out of date.

If you prefer online information, the American Rose
Society www.ars.org has quite a few articles on
basic rose care and is accessible to everyone, not
just members. Look for the link to "articles" near
the bottom of the intro page.


There's also a really good web site about identifying
and dealing with various diseases and pests of roses:
http://members.tripod.com/buggyrose/

For future reference, it helps to indicate where you
live (generally). For example, "winter care" for my
roses, here in Southcentral TX, involves nothing at
all other than occasional watering when needed. In
the northern USA and other northern climes it's quite
a different matter!


Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8