Garden therapy

January in the garden. After the hectic holidays, Mother Nature

calls us back to earth and back to garden basics. Get out the pruning

shears and prepare for garden therapy. Somehow, it just seems right

to chop away at the beauties of the garden. It’s so fulfilling to lop

and cut leaving only the necessities intact.

The pruning ratio depends on the type of roses in your garden.

Floribundas, like Iceberg roses, only need about a third of their

growth cut back. Climbing roses are in the same category -- they only

need the riff-raff removed.

The truly fulfilling specimens are the hybrid tea roses. Hybrid

teas need to have about two-thirds of their growth removed to be

productive through spring, summer and fall.

A few of my hybrid teas are mighty ferocious looking. These

intimidating medusas are my favorite plants to prune. You start by

clipping the baby strays, move up to the out-of-line adolescents and

then chop down the teen branches with great satisfaction.

Metaphors aside, a pruned rose bush should be left with a few

large canes leaning outward. Don’t leave any branches that

criss-cross through the center, and just to complete the massacre,

strip the leaves off the remaining canes.

At the end of the process, your roses should look very clean cut

and downright orderly. Be sure to add some rose food to make up for

your pernicious behavior then sit back and watch your darlings grow

and bloom.

If you are ready to add a few newcomers to your garden this year,

the selection is prolific. The “new” roses are bringing back some old

charm: fragrance, abundant flowers, beautiful leaf color and a

variety of petal shapes. few even have beautiful hips, you gotta love

that.

“Cape Cod” and “Route 66” have been introduced as new floribundas

shrub (roses) for 2003. Route 66 roses have ruffled leaves and deep

purple petals with a white eye. These stunners have an intense clove

fragrance. Cape Cod has clusters of large five-petal soft pink

flowers.

David Austin has two new English roses that are very special.

“Geoff Hamilton” is a warm pink multi-petaled rose with a true rose

smell.

“Teasing Georgia” has deep yellow flowers densely petaled flowers

tinged in gold with an anise scent.

Two of this year’s All-American winners are also floribundas. “Hot

Cocoa” (a very cool soft brown) and “Cherry Parfait” (which looks

like a Double Delight in overdrive) bloom profusely. Each stem is its

own bouquet.

Stunning hybrid tea roses “September Mourn”, is a tribute to the

Sept. 11 tragedy and “Marilyn Monroe” has ecru buds that open to a

soft apricot.

So readers, happy January. Prune and lop to your heart’s content.

Raising roses may be a thorny business. But the rewards are lovely

and sometimes regal.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs

Saturdays.