Garden Detective

Stephen Scanniello (Gotta love the dirty knees!) (Photo by Len Gelstein)

The following advice comes directly from the master, Stephen Scanniello, an internationally renowned rosarian, curator of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Cranford Rose Garden and author of "A Year of Roses," which I reviewed earlier this year. Mr. Scanniello was kind enough to share his expertise here on the Garden Detective Blog with these pointers:

It's still a good time to plant. In fact, it's the best time to plant roses. This includes moving an older bush to a new spot. To do so, prune back enough so that you can handle the shrub, prepare the new area with lots of compost and well-drained soil, and water thoroughly.

If you ordered from Canada, and the bare-root roses haven't arrived yet, dig the holes and mulch the holes to keep them from freezing. You may not get the roses until December.

If you ordered roses from root nurseries, these may be small. If so, plant in a pot and keep in a sheltered area till spring (this applies to roses that arrive in "sleeves," like those from Vintage Gardens of California.

Underplant roses with spring-flowering bulbs. Favorites, in bloom cycle from early to late, include:

• Chionodoxa (View image) and other small early blooming bulbs
  
  
• Small muscari (ambrosicacum) (View image)
  
  
• Fritillaria -- the huge crown imperial. (View image) Keeps rodents away (To find out why, click here.)
  
  
• Species tulips, like Turkestanica and Clusiana (Cynthia, Lady Jane among my favorites of this species)
  
  
• Any later blooming tulips. Plan on creating a bloom cycle that lasts until May (my favorite late one is 'Blushing Beauty')

• Daffs: All types, from earliest (February Gold) to late (Thalia and Hawera; especially fond of the fragrant Poeticus
  
  
• Camassia - all types

• Allium (View image)- all types, but especially schuberti

• Lilies (View image) - brings bulb color into the garden as late as August.

Plant small flowered pansies (violas) (View image) under old shrub roses or others that won't get mounded later in the winter, I prefer the Sorbet series.

Top dress all beds with rotted manure, not touching the roses, but a nice layer.

Tie all loose canes of climbers and ramblers.

Only prune back hybrid teas if you feel the look is ugly. Best to leave everything the way it is.

(All plant photos courtesy of Cornell Cooperative Extension)

To view photos from Mr. Scanniello's private gardens, visit the Virtual Gardening Club.