Choosing to Grow Roses
I don’t think it's an overstatement to say that Roses are the king of flowers. These magnificent blooms are often the first thing that we think of when somebody mentions flowers or flower gardens. This distinction is not undeserved as roses are both large plants, but also boast a variety of different colored flowers that are themselves as grand as the rest of the plant itself. Many flower aficionados will find themselves desiring to plant some kind of rose in their flower garden and with good cause. Choosing a rose bush can be the first challenge that gardeners will find themselves faced with as roses aren’t confined to the common conception of bright red flowers in a shop. Roses will first of all come in a surprising number of colors, some types have a white to cream colored flower, while others will produce yellow or gold colored blooms, still others fall in the traditional pink and red colors we associate with roses. Another choice to make revolves around size, as rose bushes can be anywhere from 6-10 ft tall, and can be several feet wide. This choice will often revolve around deciding to grow a typical rose bush or a climbing rose bush, with the typical rose bush topping out at approximately 8 ft tall and being a little smaller, with climbing roses being the larger of the two. The size of these flowering plants makes growing and maintaining them quite the task, and often requires some form of reinforcement in terms of trellising.
Supporting a Rose Bush
Trellising rose bushes is not always a requirement but is certainly recommended to aid in containing and supporting the rose. For climbing roses, trellising is necessary, as the huge plant will need the support of a trellis or some other structure like a garden obelisk capable of holding its weight and allowing it plenty of room to grow both up and out. For smaller rose bushes, trellising is not a necessity, however having the support of a trellis will significantly aid the rose bush, and rather than restricting the natural beauty of the flower, will enhance and draw attention to its natural beauty.
There are a handful of different ways in which you can trellis a rose bush to provide support for the sturdy plant and all of them have their own strengths. At our own home the rose bush grows in a hanging wall trellis to provide an artistic take on the rose and the trellis. This method also protects the plant from disease by keeping it from being pressed to the wall. Lattice work is also popular, climbing roses will take the most advantage of this type of trellising, which gives them a significant amount of freedom to cover a wall. Garden arbors and other large garden structures like benches and gates can be a favorite of roses as they entwine themselves up and around these sturdy trellising options. All of these methods are great ways to trellis a rose and there is little wrong with any of them, however, this article isn’t about wall trellises, arbors, benches, or lattice, it is as the title would imply all about garden obelisks.
Garden Obelisks are 3-D
Obelisks themselves are not always the most common gardening or trellising implement (though perhaps they should be). These structures are a 3-D trellis, having both the height to support the plants you would choose to grow, but also having the width and depth to trellis heavier plants and display these multi-dimensional characteristics. The nature of these obelisks will allow them to showcase flowers from every angle, with every side being made to hold flowers and climbing vines and branches. The 3-dimensional structure will also strengthen the garden obelisk, the structure has a wider base, making it more resistant to weight and natural elements such as heavy winds. All of these traits come together to create a system that is perfect for trellising every different type of rose in your garden.
Garden Obelisks Assist Climbers
Garden obelisks can be the perfect trellising system for roses as we’ll go on to talk about in the rest of this article. These gardening structures are perfect for rose bushes that tend to be heavier, love to crawl up trellising, and last for quite awhile. This makes the obelisk one of the most versatile pieces of trellising for whatever rose bush you pick out, and this versatility is important to most gardeners looking to add the pop of a rose bush in their garden.
As we noted earlier, roses aren’t a light weight in the garden. These flowers grow on the towering greenery that makes up the rose bush and the climbing vines that make up the foliage are numerous and often heavy. While this can become an issue for many methods of trellising, obelisks have the advantage of being a 3-D trellis, which greatly increases their structural integrity. Having this integrity makes the obelisk capable of supporting the weight of a rose bush. Likewise, the obelisk’s sturdy structure will allow it to last for an extended period of time, an important characteristic to have when trellising a rose bush. Rose bushes will often live for up to 10 or 15 years, and some climbing roses will live even longer. The longevity of these plants lends itself greatly to a structure that will be able to stand as long as they will, and obelisks fit the bill for this requirement.
Secondly, garden obelisks will provide a significant number of places for the rose to crawl up. You can find obelisks in many different styles and sizes, this means there will be a handful of varying obelisks to help you trellis your roses. Find an obelisk that has plenty of spaces for the rose to grow up by entwining its vines on the 3-D trellis. Allowing the rose bush to grow up an obelisk will give the plant room to grow both out and up. The rose bush will not only grow flowers on one side, but will fill out the different sides of the obelisk, making the trellis the support for a fully natural growth of rose flowers. Obelisks are a wonderful way to showcase the beauty of a rose bush or a climbing rose. These structures are different from most of the other trellising apparatuses that we have built in our own gardens, but this difference will allow them to add something entirely new to the garden. Look into finding an obelisk that you can stand anywhere within your garden to show off your fantastic flowers and other large climbing plants!
About H Potter
For 25+ years, H Potter has been proudly serving the home and garden industry as an innovator and a trusted family-owned business. With a wide variety of home and garden products, our mission has been to provide a high quality product to the at-home gardener that is both artistic and functional. Thanks for visiting our blog, we hope you’ll take some time to check out the other wonderful blog posts and pages throughout our website.
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