Customer Reviews

Roses (Time-Life Complete Gardener)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After carefully comparing other books that provided comprehensive information on roses, I chose the Sunset Roses book and have not regretted it one bit. When I purchased the book, I had 4-5 roses in my garden, and now I have 52 (at the time of this writing ;-). I still refer to this book as a reference for pruning techniques, disease, planting and placement, and just as a wonderful review of the next rose I must have!

The roses covered are certainly the most popular and easy to grow, and there is a section in the back that lists specific roses that are favorites of regional rosarians. So, for instance, if you are in zone 5-6 in Ohio, you can find best roses for the midwest/great lakes area, and so on. This is really valuable because a rose that will be a star for one gardener (such as Mr. Lincoln), might not perform well in another garden in a different part of the country.

I carry it with me to the nursery to make my selections. I'm a novice antique rose fancier with some particular geographic/climate needs, and this book makes it easy to determine what will thrive in my yard. There is a picture and detailed description of every rose in the book. The charts also make it easy to search for the right plant by color, flowering frequency, light needs, size, etc. I never shop for roses without carrying along this book.

Along with Ortho's "All About Roses", and HP Books' Roses, How To Select, Grow and Enjoy", this is the backbone of the easy way to learn about roses. As an introduction to some or the "mysteries" about growing roses, this book and the other two mentioned have no equals. The illustrations are great and there are a lot of color photos of rose varieties, making a good picture book as well as a good "How To" book. I think everyone who has an interest in roses will enjoy this book and also the other two mentioned.

I checked this book out of the library along with about 25 other rose books, and although it's a smaller book than most, it's better. It's easy to find the information I want, which makes it a good reference book, and it's also easy to read through, which I've done. It starts off like a magazine, with lovely pictures to whet one's appetite and captions (as a former newspaper editor, I know that captions are some of the most read pieces of text on any page). Then the book moves into technical information (in the form of body copy) about selecting, planting, pruning, disease and pest control, recommended varieties, etc. I especially like the illustrations of pests, diseases, and nutrient deficiencies. It's important to diagnose rose problems correctly, and this book is the only one I've seen that has the right illustrations for doing that. It's obvious that this book was created by people who know how to explain things thoroughly, and know the value of good illustrations.

The only problem I have with this book is the same problem I have with most rose books: there's not enough discussion of disease resistance in the description of each variety. I imagine that's difficult in a book that covers the whole country (I live in Seattle, where black spot is the biggest problem.) So to find out if a particular rose I want is susceptible to certain diseases in the Northwest, I go online. Doing this, I learned that a Northwest-recommended variety, Iceberg, is particularly prone to black spot here, so I took it off my list, and added other white roses that appear to be more bullet proof.

All in all, I think very highly of this book, and it has passed the test, and I'll buy my own copy.

I must say, this book was well worth the money. The information provided was very descriptive and the up-to-date pictures and reviews on the most current quality roses out there were beautiful! I highly recommend this book for any new rose growers out there and for the more hardened, the gallery of roses is a must!

This book was so well put together, pictures and illistrations were wonderful. would recomend to all.

This is a fantastic book! It is reasonably priced,but most of all, it is packed with helpful information and step by step instructions for many elements of growing roses. I love it and would recommend it to anyone interested in growing roses!

This book has a lot of information on roses. It is less than 130 pages, but chock
full of information. All the books I have ordered from Amazon have been most
pleasing for promptness in shipping and quality.

The new editions of "Sunset Roses" is by far superior to the previous edition. There are many good rose books out there however the "casual gardener" can get easily overwhelmed with their amount of information.
"Sunset Roses" is easy to follow, quick reading and reference that makes you feel "I can do that". Of particular interest is the section on what roses grow the best in the different U.S.D.A. Climatic Zones.

This is a great book for the beginner and the expert. Shows many detailed pictures. My favorites I share often are the diagrams of how to prune a rose. As a member of our local Rose Society, I have many opportunities to talk to the public about roses. My recent purchase of this book was to replace the copy I have used for years. I highly recommend this book. Keep an eye one your copy though, or it might sprout legs and walk away like my previous copy did. :)