"Growing Roses Organically" Not many gardeners can resist the beauty of a rose-- a flower so divine and graceful in appearance and, in many cases, so wonderfully fragrant that it evokes thoughts of love and romance at first encounter. Many gardeners, however, also see a fussy plant that's hard to grow and needs special attention, as well as a host of chemicals to keep diseases and pests at bay. In" Growing Roses Organically," Barbara Wilde challenges the myth that growing roses has to be a time-consuming task that you can't do effectively without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In fact, she takes the intimidation out of growing roses by sharing her well-rounded, holistic approach for success. Wilde starts with tips for choosing healthy varieties, including hints for buying the best bareroot and container plants. She guides you through careful soil preparation and proper planting techniques and offers advice on how to gently intervene when it comes to pest and disease problems. Wilde also demystifies pruning-- a task that perplexes many gardeners. Her step-by-step explanation of various techniques makes this task doable for every gardener, including beginners. You'll also find invaluable information in A Gallery of Roses, an eye-catching identification guide that boasts more than 100 roses best suited for organic gardening techniques. Each entry in the gallery includes a detailed description of the rose and its best uses, as well as ratings for fragrance, disease susceptibility, and shade tolerance. To round out "Growing Roses Organically," you'll discover how to incorporate roses into your garden. Wilde dismisses the notion that you need to grow roses in aformal setting and instead presents four garden designs that incorporate roses with everything from perennials and wildflowers to trees and shrubs. Her design do's and don'ts along with winning plant combinations demonstrate how naturally roses fit into the landscape. In sharing her wisdom and experience, Barbara Wilde shows that growing roses doesn't have to be labor-intensive or frustrating. By choosing the right varieties and providing proper care, roses really can be a welcome part of every garden-- including yours. n0 About the Author Barbara Wilde has been gardening organically since the age of 17, when her Swiss grandmother first introduced her to gardening. As owner of a midwestern specialty plant nursery, Barbara spent 10 years exploring garden design and ornamental horticulture and growing heirloom and European fruits, vegetables, and cut flowers organically. As a garden designer and education specialist for a premier midwestern landscape firm, she developed staff training curriculum and pioneered organic landscaping techniques still in use by the firm today. Barbara has written for "Horticulture" magazine and Rodale publications and is the regular garden columnist for "Indianapolis Woman" magazine. A frequent public speaker on horticulture, she is known for her ecologically sensitive designs that use a wide variety of unusual plants. Barbara currently lives in Paris, where she maintains her own Web site, www.frenchgardening.com. At the site, you can find articles on French gardens, practical gardening advice, favorite plants, kitchen gardening, her life in Paris, and even cooking-- her (barely) subordinate passion. When not writing content for the site, Barbara spends her time traveling throughout France searching for traditional French garden seeds and artisanal products, including tools, books, and decorating items, which she sells on her Web site. She also gardens with her companion, Denis, on their Parisian terrace and on weekends at an old Normandy farmhouse.

It is a myth that roses demand chemicals and special care to grow, as garden designer and author Wilde demonstrates in her beautiful, groundbreaking book. 240 photos, 200 in full color.

Roses have been grown in gardens around the world for thousands of years and are still the most popular flower in the world. When you follow Diana Sargeant's advice in All About Roses, you will grow the most gorgeous roses, easily and naturally. Your rose garden will be a place for you to rest, respite and nurture all your senses. When you grow your own roses you will enjoy a sense of pride each time you look at them. As you walk through your garden, you can savour all the pleasures that roses offer.

The only guide to using America's favorite flower in one's landscape and in over 50 crafts projects--without chemicals. Oster is a contributor of photographs and articles to gardening publications and the author of many books. The Rose Book contains 50 color photos and 124 illustrations.

A former curator at the New York Botanical Garden describes 150 different varieties of roses that can be grown without the use of pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers and provides information on planting, pruning and caring for these gorgeous blooms. Original.

Growing Beautiful Roses: Your Guide to Creating an Easy-Care Garden Full of Fragrance and Color Have you always wanted to plant roses but are afraid they are too difficult to grow? Fear no more. Growing Beautiful Roses takes the intimidation (and the chemicals) out of growing the world's most legendary flower. This gorgeous and rich instructional guide offers a holistic approach to growing these perennial favorites. Author Barbara Wilde presents tips and advice for choosing healthy roses, preparing the soil, and recognizing and preventing disease; plus, she takes the mystery out of pruning. Perhaps even more valuable, Wilde includes a gallery of more than 100 remarkable roses that are the most hardy and the most disease and pest resistant, making them the best roses for organic gardening. In addition, she takes you beyond the rigidity of a formal rose garden by showing you how to combine roses with other plants, including grasses, herbs, wildflowers, vines, shrubs, perennials, and annuals.

Offers the elements of garden design necessary for an organic program, as well as companion plant ideas, cultivation and troubleshooting, fun extras such as rose recipes, and a timely organic perspective.