Text and photographs are © by Ellen Spector Platt & Ellen Zachos, all rights reserved.


Friday, January 21, 2011

SUSTAINABLE ROSE GROWING

The scoop on growing roses sustainably in a new book of essays written by international rose experts, edited by Pat Shanley, Peter Kukielski and Gene Wearing from Newbury Books, a division of Casemate Pub. U.K. $34.95

Although an unschooled gardener myself, I've contributed "Memoirs of a Condo Rose Grower and Composter" to the book. above, 'All the Rage' blooming on my rooftop with drip irrigation

Always looking for the New York connection for Garden Bytes readers, of particular interest are pieces by Kukielski and Karl McKoy, curators of roses at the NYBG and Queens Botanic Garden respectively, and Stephen Scanniello, former curator of roses at the BBG, now President of the Heritage Rose Foundation. Other local gardeners Pat Shanley and Marjorie Marcallino have written pieces as well, but the book's crucial message of sustanablitiy applies to us wether the expert is from India or California.

John Starnes a rose hybridizer from Florida, contributed "Probiotic Rose Growing" and offers a recipe for Poop Soup for roses. A necessary ingredient is a gallon of fresh horse poop. My immediate thought is that since I no longer have my farm, this ingredient will be impossible to obtain in Manhattan; second thought crowding in on the first is an image of me shovel in hand, on Central Park South & Fifth Ave. where the horse carriages await their fares. Can I add horse pooper- scooper to my current title of trash scavenger?

This book of individual essays would be improved a thousandfold if there were an Index at the end.

3 comments:

Shady Gardener said...

Horse pooper-scooper? Of course! I have a wonderful image in mind... you'll have to provide a proper photograph! :-)

Ellen Spector Platt said...

And Other Ellen will have to be the photographer.

FZ said...

is so beautiful


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