Shrub roses include all roses that just do not seem to fit into the major rose categories. They're not a hybrid tea, a floribunda, miniature, climbing, Romantica, English. You get the picture. These roses are excellent as a hedge or beautiful enough as a specimen. Many shrub roses resulted from crossing old-rose types with modern roses and therefore combine the best traits of each: repeat flowering, a great range of colors, and fragrance. Shrub roses also have a wide range of flower styles, growth habits, and also the delicate colors that come from the Old Garden Roses. Virtually all shrub rose bushes are repeat blooming. What more could you ask for?

Knockout roses are the most disease resistant and winter hardy shrub roses on the market today. We have a large selection available for your gardens:

Knockout (The Original of the Knockout roses)Bears fluorescent cherry red blossoms completely covering the shrub all summer long. Just when you think a rose might be done, its foliage offers deep purple fall foliage coloring your garden. Don't waste time removing old flowers from this fabulous bloomer—this one is self-cleaning. Hardy and drought tolerant upon establishment, this rose is a carefree, show-stopper.

Pink Knockout—Pow! Pink! Another "easy as can be" shrub rose. Not sure about pink? This shade of pink will complement any color scheme. This rose thrives in humid climates where most other plants require spray and maintenance. It is self-cleaning and offers non-stop blooms, the perfect companion to other flowering shrubs, roses and perennials.

Blushing Knockout—Blushing is a beautiful soft light pink color, and like other Knockout rose, the shrub never stops blooming. This bloom fades, but into a wonderful shell pink color. You can't ask for much more from a rose, but to fade into beauty! It thrives in humid climates and is disease resistant, drought tolerant and naturally mildew resistant.

Carefree Wonder—Carefree Wonder shrub rose, rounded, bushy plants produce continuously blooming pink blossoms, that have a creamy white reverse. Orange hips emerge in the fall.

Carefree Sunshine—Lemon-yellow, semi-double blossoms appear in clusters on this rose all summer. The blossoms make great cut flowers. Carefree Sunshine has upright growth to about 3-feet tall and wide. This rose has healthy, medium-green foliage and is winter hardy to the crown in northern Zone 4, where it benefits from a light winter covering for extra protection.

Carefree Delight—Highly resistant to mildew, blackspot and rust, this landscape shrub rose is truly carefree and delightful.

William Baffin—It has been said by many northern gardeners that if you need a really hardy climbing rose, William Baffin is your best bet. It has been grown successfully as far north as Zone 2b! It is also very resistant to powdery mildew and blackspot. Blossoms have a semi-double form and a deep-pink color.

Need a groundcover that blooms all summer long? Try Flower Carpet Roses. These beauties grow only 12-15" high and spread 3-5' wide. They come in every color to accent any landscape. From bright yellow to coral to classic red or pink, or try 'Scarlet,' a new color for 2007.

Now that we have introduced you to our favorite roses, are you ready for spring rose planting? If not, we would like to help you!

Rose Planting Guide:
Once you have chosen a location, plant your rose carefully to ensure a healthy start. Use a quality soil mix like Waupaca Landscape Soil to blend 50/50 with your existing soil. Dig a hole 1.5 times as big as the container size you are planting. Use your soil blend in the bottom and handle the root ball carefully, using two hands to place it inside the hole. Next, using your soil blend, fill in around the sides of the root ball. Water the root ball thoroughly and let the soil settle naturally. Begin fertilizing in 2-3 weeks using Bayer 3-in-1 Rose and Flower Care.

Have a wonderful time selecting a few fabulous roses for your 2007 gardens. And please, do us a favor. Take pictures and bring them so that we might enjoy your gardens, too!

• June 5th—Herb, Spaghetti & Salsa Container class, 1 pm and 7 pm. Please call to RSVP. Make a container with all the herbs to create a delicious spaghetti dish or tasty salsa. $10 dollars for the class, bring your own container or buy one here. Buy herbs separately.
• June 13th—Painting—Kids & Adults, 1 pm and 7 pm. Please call to RSVP. We will give you brief instructions for painting a pattern or a picture on your pot, and then let your creative juices flow. While the pots dry, we will help you pick out flowers to fill them. $10 for adults and $5 for kids. We will provide 10" clay pot and paint.

One other quick note: Butterflies also like puddles. Provide a small water source in your garden with a shallow birdbath or buried bucket filled with stones and then filled with water.

A flower garden, dangling like a colorful jeweled earring from the eave of your home. Yes, a hanging floral bouquet, the hanging basket—filled full to the brim with flowers and plants of the season, whether that is spring, summer or fall.

A design concept is important for you to consider when building your own hanging basket. You will need to choose a style or theme. For example, perhaps you want all of the same kinds of plants or flowers, such as all impatiens, all petunias, all verbenas or all trailing vinca. Some might choose to have a single color scheme, while others might choose complementary colors or contrasting colors. A hanging basket with all flowers can be fun, or a mixed basket with flowers and foliage plants can be even more interesting.

A hanging basket makes a wonderful statement when it contains both upright and trailing plants. Make sure, however, that the plants that you choose for the upright feature will remain within the scale of the container that you have chosen. If you like a tall grass, such as Juncus, it is not a problem, but make sure that the container and your hanging mechanism will incorporate its ultimate height.

Did we mention containers? There are many choices of containers, too. Wire baskets lined with moss, wooden containers, plastic pots with built in hangers, clay or glazed pots hanging with woven ropes – your ultimate choice will depend on the look that you are creating. We have an excellent selection of containers for you to choose from.

Ok, you’ve decided upon your theme, have an idea of the plants that you want and have chosen the container. Excellent. Next you need to prepare your potting mix. Select a high quality potting mix and mix in a controlled-release fertilizer. Also, remember that moisture retention is frequently a problem with hanging baskets (and all containers for that matter), so mix in a soil polymer that will hold on to the moisture between watering.

If you have chosen to create a succulent hanging basket, you will need cactus mix and probably won’t need the slow-release fertilizer or the moisture polymer.

Planting is the next step. Fill your container about 2/3 to 3/4 full with the potting mixture. Carefully remove your new plants from their nursery containers and place them in the container. Don’t hesitate to move them around until you are thrilled with the arrangement. Keep in mind which ones are upright growers, and place them in the center. Trailing flowers/plants should be near the edge, of course.

Once the plants are arranged to your satisfaction, fill in between plants with your potting mixture and water well. Remember that, even if you did use the moisture retention polymer, containers dry out far more quickly that plants in the ground. You will need to water several times a week or even more frequently in hot weather.

What’s next, you wonder? Watching your own creative design grow to maturity.

Take your time to look through our gallery of flowering and foliage plants. Then of course, come into the garden center for a closer look. We’ll be delighted to help you become a great Hanging Floral Bouquet designer!

Great Plants for Hanging Baskets:

• Remove unwanted seedlings on prolific perennials such as Blackeyed Susan, Coneflowers, Monarda.
• Apply animal deterrents. (Liquid Fence)
• Dig and divide overcrowded declining and poor flowering ground covers.
• Apply animal deterrents. (Liquid Fence)
• Remove unwanted perennials seedlings on prolific perennials such as Blackeyed Susan, Coneflowers, Monarda.
• Dig and divide overcrowded, declining and poor flowering ground covers.
• Put stakes, cages and trellises in place:
  • Cages: Peonies, Annabelle Hydrangea
  • Stake: Delphinium
  • Trellis: Vines
• Pull or treat weeds as soon as they appear.(Never let weeds go to seed).
• Deadhead (remove spent flowers) on early blooming perennials (creeping phlox, candytuft) to encourage a flush of new foliage.
• Pinch back Mims and Asters (keep 4-6" tall throughout the months of May & June) this will keep then compact and full.
• Pinch back Shasta Daisy, Bee Balm, Garden Phlox and obedient plants to control height and stagger bloom times.
• Thin Garden Phlox, Bee Balm and other plants prone to powdery mildew when they are 8" to 1' tall. Remove 1/4. Thinning increases light and airflow to prevent powdery mildew from starting.

• Topsoil $16/yard
• Bark (Mixed Hardwood) $22/yard
• Red mulch $32/yard
• Chocolate Mulch $32/yard
• Small Mississippi (3/4") $48/yard
• Large Mississippi (1 1/2-2") $48/yard
• Jumbo Mississippi (3/4-2.5") $54/yard
• Fractured Granite (3/4-1") $60/yard
• Red Granite (1/4-1/2") $36/yard
  Delivery charges will apply.