RE: Easy rose trend

**"* M* <b*@impact-pr.com>**

Mark and all,
I will be more than happy to set up an interview with Bill.  If anyone is interested, please contact me off line.  

In the meantime, here is an article on rose hips.  They are quite tasty as they are in the same family as apples!

Susan McCoy
Office: 610-388-9330
Cell:    610-220-8400
IMPACT Marketing/Garden Media Group
www.gardenmediagroup.com
"We make you popular with your customers!"

Get âHipâ to Roses

A rose is a rose . . . is a rose . . . goes the famous verse, but what about those little red pods that follow the faded blooms?

Most people donât even notice them until a killer frost leaves only those plump round pods known as rose hips. But all bird lovers know that the hips make a lovely protective cover for birds in a barren winter garden and provide natural cold-weather nourishment.  A little extra benefit is the variety of uses for their herb-like ingredient â there is rose hip jelly, rose hip syrup and marmalade.

	But what exactly is a rose hip you ask? Itâs actually a pod that holds the seeds from which the rose is born.  

They range in size from a ball bearing to almost an inch.  The smaller ones may hold only one seed but the larger ones can produce 20 to 30 seeds.

	Surprising, roses are related to apples so the hips can take on the color of a wide variety of ripe apples.  

	âYou find hips in every color from soft green to rich orange red, shades of yellow and almost burgundy,â says Steve Hutton, president of The Conard-Pyle Co., growers of the famous Starï Roses.  

BEST HIPS IN THE GARDEN
	The number of hips that a bush has varies quite a bit with the variety of roses, but the more the bush blooms the more hips it will have. Shrub roses, which bloom profusely, generally are loaded with hips in the winter because they bloom from May to first frost.   Also the Rugosa roses produce a fairly good abundance of fine size hips. 

	The best roses for hips are: Bonica, Knock-Out, Carefree Beauty, Pink Meidiland, Red Meidiland, Ruby Meidiland, Sevillana, and the climbing rose, Scarlet Star.  All are hardy in zones 6-9, with the Meidilandsâ thriving through Zone 4.  

	The new Raspberry Rugostarâ has exceptionally orange-red hips that make the plant burst with color and are perfect making jellies.
Shrub roses fall into two basic groups: upright shrubs and groundcovers.  Upright shrub roses grow as tall as eight feet and as wide as five.  Planted three feet apart, they provide a mass of color all-season long and are effective as a mass specimen, relatively low hedges or a screen of color for privacy.  Ground covers, on the other hand, have a more spreading, arching growth habit, ranging from just over a foot high to as tall as six feet and up to seven feet wide.  These shrub roses are most effective in massed plantings four to five feet apart.  

These Starï Landscape Shrub Roses are as easy to grow as lilacs or forsythia.  âIf someone can grow grass -- even weeds â they can grow shrub roses,â says Hutton.  âThey require no heavy spraying, deadheading, pruning or winter protection.   They are the rose for our time.â

According to noted rosarian Stephen Scanniello, author of A Year of Roses, âRoses love a rich environment. They wonât thrive in poorly drained or heavily compacted ground.â  He recommends using a planting mix combined half and half with existing soil adds peat moss and composted bark with the soil adds organic material and increases drainage â two conditions critical for growing lush, blooming roses.â 

Planting roses correctly is critical as well.  Pick a spot that gets 6 hours of sunshine and dig a hole 18 to 20 inches wide and deep. Hereâs the important part:  form a blunt pyramid with the 50/50 mix in center of the hole and position the plant on top of the pyramid so the bud knot is at ground level and the roots drape over the cone.  Fill with the mix and water well.

Whether planting a quarter acre or 100 acres, the gardening possibilities with shrub roses are unlimited.  You can add color and interest to a drab corner with only one landscape shrub rose that spreads up to seven feet.  Steep slopes, unsightly areas or hazardous spots become bold show stoppers when planted with a mass of shrub roses.  All are a perfect haven for birds for winter nesting and as a source for food.

Hutton says landscape shrub rosesâ popularity is actually sustaining the rose category.  He reports that 10 years ago there were about 35-40 million rose plants produced in the United States each year, of which less than one percent were in the landscape class.  Today the number produced is about the same, but more than 10 percent are landscape shrub roses.

IDEAS FOR HIPS
Hips do not just have to stay on the bush and look pretty. There are many uses for rose hips.

In past centuries ârose syrupâ made from the hips was used to strengthen the heart and take away trembling.  Although, that cannot be proven what experts know today is that rose hips have a much higher source of Vitamin C than any citrus fruit.

	In âThe Green Mountain Gardener,â Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor for the University of Vermont writes that, âDuring World War II when imports of citrus products were limited, rose hips became especially popular in Great Britain. Volunteers spent many hours gathering hips from hedge rows for making rose hips syrup for the Ministry of Health to distribute.â

Rose hips have a sweet tangy flavor and can be used fresh, dried or preserved. However, before picking any rose hips make sure the bush was not treated with any pesticide that is not safe for food crops. 

The simplest way to use them and take advantage of their nutrients is to steep them for tea.  If you want to pick the rose hips, stop cutting off dead blooms in mid to late August and watch the hips form. Leave them on the bush until after the first frost, which makes them turn bright red and soft.  
To prepare them, trim off the blossom and stem ends with a scissors. Cut them lengthwise and remove the small hairs and seeds and rinse. 

To dry hips, spread them in a single layer on screening trays and place in your dehydrator, an oven set on the lowest setting or in a dark, dry well-ventilated place. They can then be stored in glass jars in a dark, cool place. They can also be dried on their stems and make a great addition to any bouquet or as a decoration on a wreath.  

	Left on the bush, the hips become a winter feast for birds and every gardener knows the pleasure that a variety of birds bring to the gardens.

-----Original Message-----
From: gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [g*@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Mark Lee
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 12:53 PM
To: 'Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum'
Subject: RE: [GWL] Easy rose trend

I read the story of how the Knock-out Rose was developed.  The breeder
is William Radler.  If any of you are familiar with his roses, I would
be interested in hearing about the rose hips they produce.  As the
editor of a newsletter on fruit growing, I try to locate plants that fit
into the edible landscape.  I know that Rugosa Roses, which have large
tasty hips, are often used in rose breeding.  They share the hardiness
and disease resistance of Mr. Radler's roses, so I wonder if any of them
also have similar rose hips?
-Mark Lee, Seattle
editor of the Western Cascade Fruit Society newsletter

-----Original Message-----
From: gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[g*@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Susan
McCoy
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 8:04 AM
To: 'Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum'
Subject: [GWL] Easy rose trend

The gardening industry has known for sometime that easy to grow roses
were driving sales, but it now appears that carefree roses as a major
trend in gardening has hit the big league.  Rebercca Kolls just did a
segment on Roses 101 for ABC Good Morning America last week.  Check it
out at
www.abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/RebeccaKolls/Roses_Gardening_040630-1.ht
ml .  

And The Wall Street Journal will feature Knock OutR
(www.theknockoutrose.com) and other easy to grow roses in an article
scheduled to run on July 9th in the Weekend Journal section. The
reporter is focusing on low maintenance roses that anyone can grow as a
new fad in gardening.  The reporter interviewed Steve Hutton, president
of The Conard-Pyle Company, along with some happy gardeners who before
planting Knock Out were "afraid" to grow roses.  

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters