Believe or not fall is a good time to plant roses. The soil is a little easier to work with than in the spring. The plant has some time to establish roots before next summer.

My garden suffers from a one-of-everything syndrome and I’m always looking for some design advice for effectively adding more plants. The All-America Rose Selections people offered some:

“Group your roses by colors, forms, or heights. Space plants by their mature size, usually reached in two to three years. Allow enough room for good air circulation, which helps prevent many diseases.

“Plant taller roses to the back so they won’t rob shorter plants of sunlight. Clusters of three, five, or seven roses are more pleasing to the eye than straight rows. For color, texture, and bloom-time variation, mix roses with other sun loving perennials, annuals, and bulbs.”

Now, if I could only get the rose selections people to prune my roses…