Keep Everything Coming Up Roses

A great way to experience exquisite roses is to attend the annual Rose Parade® in Pasadena, Calif. The Bayer Advanced Jack and the Rose Stalk float, the very first float in the 2006 Rose Parade®, featured the four All-America Rose Selections: Julia Child, Rainbow Sorbet, Tahitian Sunset and Wild Blue Yonder.

Bayer Advanced™ garden expert Lance Walheim, who wrote the best-selling book "Roses for Dummies," says, "Roses are easier to grow now than ever before if you follow a few basic guidelines":

• Rose plants are graded according to standards set by the American Nursery & Landscape Association. A #1 rose is the highest quality and will give you the best show the first summer. You'll find the grades on the rose packaging.

• Avoid roses with dry-looking, shriveled canes.

• Soak roots overnight before planting. If you can't plant immediately, keep packing moist around the roots until planting time.

• Roses need at least six hours of direct sunlight per day to thrive.

• Fill hole with water, let it drain and then fill again. If the hole hasn't drained completely in 24 hours, the easiest solutions are to plant elsewhere or grow roses in pots or raised beds.

• Mix the soil dug out of the hole with equal amounts of compost or ground bark. Place some of the mixture in the bottom of the hole, creating a cone-shaped mound.

• Examine the rose carefully. Prune off damaged or dead roots. Spread the roots of the rose-the rose should be planted at about the same level it was grown in the field (you'll see a color change on the stem) and with the bud union (the swollen part of the stem) aboveground. In colder climates, plant several inches deeper so the bud union is covered with soil.

• Fill with soil and create a watering basin around the plant. Water well.

• Mulch the rose with compost or ground bark. Pile the mulch up high enough to cover the canes several inches above the bud union.

• Fertilize and protect from insects and diseases. Bayer Advanced™ All-in-One Rose and Flower Care not only fertilizes, it protects against pests like aphids and Japanese beetles and diseases such as powdery mildew and black spot, all in one easy step. One application protects for up to six weeks-systemically working its way up through the plant from the roots.