Want to save water? Who doesn’t in California’s long-running drought. However, not everyone wants desert-like landscape populated with mostly rocks, wood chips, and cacti . So it’s good to know, you can cut back on watering and still have gorgeous blooming roses in your garden. The rose expert at San Marino’s Huntington Library says it can be done and has thousands of spectacular roses to prove it.
Tom Carruth,curator of the rose collection at The Huntington, began reducing the irrigation to “twice a week, for just 15 minutes each time” in 2011, according to the Huntington Blog. The result — stunning roses with huge blooms and fragrant scents.
“Reducing water gives roses the tough love they need,” said Carruth in a blog post. “Like most plants, roses like moist, not wet, soil that allows oxygen to reach their roots. And the plants become even more vigorous as they send out new roots in search of water.”
Also, Carruth added a thick layer of mulch and cut back on the chemicals. More on his water saving tips for roses and some lovely photos of Huntington roses as well here.
