Ortho Complete Guide to Roses

So did I.I never promised her a rose garden, but now we have one, and it's a pure delight. Before we started, I bought two books; this one and Pierre-Joseph Redoute's Roses. In case you are unfamiliar with that gentleman, he was the Audubon of flowers, and especially roses and lilies. His artwork is exquisite.This book, formerly published as Enjoying Roses, was created by the editorial staff of Ortho Books. The project editor was Janet Goldenberg, and it was written by Ann Reilly. The illustrators were Cyndie Wooley and Ron Hildebrand, and the photography was Saxon Holt. The resulting volume is stupendous!Unlike Redoute's book, which is entirely illustrated with his artwork, the flowers in this book are primarily illustrated with beautiful full color photography. The illustrations are primarily technical line drawings showing how to prune, disbudd, plant in containers, and plant bare-root roses, etc.The book details how to select roses and use them in your landscape,how to plant them and care for them outdoors, as well as how to grow them indoors. It also goes into the history and lore of the rose, and discusses (and shows) many of the world's finest, most cherished roses.Altogether, if you are growing roses, or if you just like to look at them and want to know more about the culture of roses, this is a book you should have!Joseph Pierre

This is the first rose book I purchased, and now some twenty books later, it's still a favorite. It's an attractive book, well written and photographed, and covers more aspects of rose growing and related interests than other rose books do. For example, there are chapters on the history of roses, roses in art/literature, rose crafts, rose photography, exhibiting roses, rose culture/diseases/pests, recommended varieties, landscaping, propagation, and much more.