ROSES.....for a long season of summer color !

If you haven't already pruned your roses, go out right now with your sharpened pruners and do so...no sense in letting the plant waste precious energy on making all those leaves that you will be cutting off! Try to make all cuts to just above an outward facing bud - keeps the shrub open and airy (which roses especially like!).  (Climbing roses are an exception - wait til after they bloom to prune). Cut close to, but not quite down to the bud. That said, some of the newer, easy-care roses claim to not need as much precision as this cutting method.  I just can't bear to "whack away" as they claim you can! 

And don't forget the fertilizer - roses are needy.

If you'd like help in selecting the right rose for you, just ask!