Lee Aki loves roses.
“I have a whole rose garden at home,” she said. “It’s lasted me about seven years already.”
Her secret is she uses fish bones.
“They work,” she said. “I guess it’s the oils in the bones. You just crush them and put them in the soil.”
Aki is the garden department manager at the Wal-Mart in Lihu‘e. She came out to the floor of the store Thursday to talk about the big shipment of roses the store recently received.
“This is a great time to plant roses,” she said. “If you plant it right now, then in the spring, you’ll have it nice and blooming.”
There are many different varieties, from the climbers, the imperials and the gypsies.
“They’re all so beautiful, but I really like the heirloom,” she said.
That is of course, she likes them when they bloom.
“They’re really easy to take care of,” she said. “But you have to be careful or you’ll kill them. As long as they don’t get too much light and you cut them properly, they’ll keep growing.”
But Liz Ronaldson of Growing Greens Nursery in Kapa‘a offers up a different opinion.
“Roses are not a good Kaua‘i plant,” Ronaldson said. “There are too many problems. They’re fungal, they attract rose beetles. You have to keep them lit at night to discourage them from coming out.”
She also said the island is too moist for roses.
“I’m over here and in Kapa‘a and it’s just so wet here it’s not good for roses,” she said.
Rose bushes are sold by the whole root in a bundle or pot. If roses are the floral selection for the home garden, here are a few things to consider when deciding on a plant:
• Where are you planning on planting the bush?
• Are you going to grow them in the ground or in a container?
• Scented or unscented roses?
• Do you want a bush, a climber or a bush to grow into a hedge?
• How big do you want your flowers? Miniature, small, medium or large blooms?
• What do you want the roses for? Cutting or decoration?
• What colors go best with your garden, home, patio, porch or balcony?
When those questions are answered and all the bushes purchased, here are some ways to successfully grow them:
• Plant them where they can get at least eight to 10 hours of sunlight. Morning sunshine is essential, but afternoon light is tolerable for them.
• Plant them where they can get good air flow. This will discourage disease. Too much wind, however, can damage the foliage. Protect the roses by shielding them with a building, wall or fence.
• Make sure the roses will get good drainage. Too much water will kill the plant.
• Plant the roses a good distance away from large trees and shrubs. This will make it so the roses don’t have to compete for light, water or nutrients.
• Plant them where you will see them everyday. You will take better care of them because you’ll notice changes in growth or problems with the plants and take care of them better.
• Lanaly Cabalo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
