Stop and Smell the Roses

A lot of roses are being ordered this week. Getting roses is a wonderful treat, especially in winter. Maybe it's got you thinking about ordering a few rose bushes?

We all know that roses aren't a holiday treat for gardeners. Every garden should have at least one rose bush. And if it can be an old fashioned fragrant rose bush, all the better. Here are my Top 10 Great Roses for Fragrance, to add to your garden.

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Photo of 'Easy Does It' Rose Provided by AARS

Stop and Smell the Roses originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 01:30:18.

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Stop and Smell the Roses

A lot of roses are being ordered this week. Getting roses is a wonderful treat, especially in winter. Maybe it's got you thinking about ordering a few rose bushes?

We all know that roses aren't a holiday treat for gardeners. Every garden should have at least one rose bush. And if it can be an old fashioned fragrant rose bush, all the better. Here are my Top 10 Great Roses for Fragrance, to add to your garden.

Read more:

Photo of 'Easy Does It' Rose Provided by AARS

Stop and Smell the Roses originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 01:30:18.

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Where Do All the Aphids Come From?

Where on earth do all those aphids come from? Seriously, how do they find their way into our homes in the dead of winter? What were they living on until I so graciously started some seedlings?

What they lack in size, they make up in numbers. Debbie Hadley, About's Guide to Insects, says "...a single aphid could produce 600 billion descendants in one season." What chance does a gardener have against those kinds of odds? And they apparently have some type of twisted relationship with ants, who protect them in order to get their fix of honeydew. Debbie sheds some light on these little suckers of the plant world.

Photo: rgrabe / stock.xchng.

Where Do All the Aphids Come From? originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 01:09:53.

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Raising Gardeners

There's been a huge push to gets kids involved in gardening. You'd think they'd be naturals: dirt, bugs, food... Actually, most kids do enjoy working in the garden. It's being patient while things begin to grow that they can't stand. This week is National Green Week and the Green Education Foundation has set a goal of getting 10,000 school gardens up and growing this year, with their Green Thumb Challenge. They provide lots of help and direction on their site, if you'd like to help your child's school.

The Welch's company is teaming up with Scholastic to award Welch's Harvest Grants to schools planning to start gardens. There are indoor and outdoor garden packages of tools, seeds and educational materials. Five 1st prize winners will each receive a $1,000 package. Twenty-five winners will get a $500 package and another 70 winners will receive a package worth $250. The contest ends next week, so check it out now.

And Bonnie Plants has a charming program called Third Grade Cabbage Program. Participating 3rd graders will receive a free Bonnie O.S. Cross cabbage to plant grow and nurture. These are big cabbages that can get up to 50 pounds, so there's an air of excitement for a small kid growing one of these. At the end of the season, schools select the best cabbage, based on size and appearance. That student's name is then included in a statewide drawing. Each state's winner is chosen in a random drawing , by the Commission of Agriculture. The winners get a $1,000 scholarship to put toward their education. Last year, 1.5 million students participated in 45 states. That's Ohio State Winner, Dakota Gurney, with his champion cabbage. I sure hope Dakota likes cabbage.

Bonnie Plants' 3rd Grade Cabbage Program. Ohio State Winner: Dakota Gurney
Photo Provided by Green Earth Media Group

Raising Gardeners originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 01:01:23.

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