Encyclopedia Excerpt

The Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations

by Tony Lord (Firefly Books)

"Hybrid Teas, popular for the size and often superb shape of their blooms, and the profusely floriferous Floribundas (cluster-flowered roses) are the largest and most commonly grown classes of bush rose. ...

Generally, (they) are best combined with plants of other genera rather than planted in the traditional way, massed in beds or as a series of sentry singletons ... with their usually coarse foliage and stiff habit on view.

Mound-forming plants, or even box edging, in front of the roses can mask their unsightly bases, while foliage ... to either side or behind will ensure the onlooker scarcely notices the leaves of the roses but instead concentrates on the undoubted beauty of the flowers."

(Garden Bookshelf is an occasional feature that excerpts advice from a new how-to book.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)

Resources
Encyclopedia of Planting Combinations
by Tony Lord (ISBN: 1552096238)
(Firefly Books, September 2002)
Order this title.