The Weekly Gardener 1

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Special White Flower Gardens

White Rose Gardens

White Roses

White roses come in so many varieties they guarantee bloom from late May until the end of fall. The only drawback is your rose garden won't have flowers in spring.

Pick a location that has good drainage and at least six hours of full sun exposure, preferably in the morning.

Choose at least one landscaping rose like White Meidiland, Oso Easy Ice Bay, Flower Carpet or Knock Out White to ensure continuous bloom.

Don't miss out on sweetbrier hybrids like Gourmet Popcorn, which boast repeat bloom and apple scented foliage.

June is the most generous month in the rose garden, because that's when the old garden roses are in season. Mme Plantier, Mme Hardy, Blanc Double de Coubert, Aimee Vibert, or Alba Maxima have abundant, fragrant, and fully double flowers, and some re-bloom sporadically in the fall.

The middle of the summer brings the hybrid teas, Damasks and English roses, with repeat flowering and heavy fragrance. John Paul II, JFK, Botzaris, Tranquility, or New Dawn are good choices.

Floribundas like Iceberg, polyanthas like Crystal Fairy, perpetual White Mosses and Four Season damasks repeat reliably in the fall.

Contrary to popular belief, roses are tough plants. I've seen them bloom in December, with their velvety petals encased in ice.

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White Bulb Gardens

White Lilies

A bulb garden needs to be planted all at once and not disturbed after that.

Lay the bulbs in layers, starting with daffodils, lilies and hyacinths, at a depth of eight inches.

Continue with tulips, callas, cannas and dahlias, at six inches, squills, gladioli, Persian buttercups and glory of the snow at four inches, and crocuses, grape hyacinths and anemones at two inches.

Bearded iris and tuberous begonias should be planted right under the surface, with their roots barely covered.

Sprinkle a good handful of bonemeal on the bottom of the planting hole before placing the bulbs, and after they emerge water and feed them regularly, like you would any other perennial.

As far as the color goes, the options are endless, but I'll pick a few:

- daffodils - Mount Hood, Thalia, and Ice Follies;

- tulips - Mondial, Snow Crystal, Clearwater, Daytona, and White Triumphator;

- hyacinths - White Pearl and Top White;

- lilies - Casablanca, Easter and Madonna lilies, and Carolina roselilies;

- irises - Alba, Immortality, and Gull's Wing;

- Persian buttercups - Telocote White and White French Peony.