F – fresh from the garden (Authors in Bloom)
So, this is a post for both, the A-Z Blogging Challenge (sorry for the lengthy post) and the Authors in Bloom Bloghop.
Spring has come and with it the time to cut your roses. The thing is that if you ask 100 gardeners how to do it right, you’ll get at least 120 answers. 
Truth be told, roses are surprisingly forgiving if you cut them wrong. Of course, there are some things you should know. There are two types of roses, floribunda roses and hybrid tea roses.
Floribundas are easy to cut since you can crop them to any size you want at any time you want. As long as you leave at least three finger width of the stems, it will grow back to its former size without complaint.
Tea roses are more delicate. There’s a whole science to the question of how to cut them right, and I don’t presume to have the only answer. I do it this way, I wait till they start pushing out leaves, then I cut the stems to about knee height. I look for an “eye” (that’s a latent bud) that faces in the direction I want the rose to grow and cut it one inch above it. That way, I can control (a little), how my rose bushes develop.
But as I said, roses are forgiving. The winter before last was so hard, I had to cut down all my roses to less then five inches, and except for one, they all came back.
One more thing, remember to cut off the wilted rose blossoms. That way, the rose will make more blossoms because the rose hips don’t ripen (it’s actually quite unfair on the rose because its major goal is to fructify not to bloom). In my garden, the roses sometimes bloom till December (if it’s not too cold).
Now, for the things you can win. The organizers of the Authors in Bloom Bloghop are giving away a Kindle Fire or Nook (winner’s choice) with a $25 gift card to one of the persons who manages to comment on ALL participating blogs (80 in total, see linky list below). They are also giving away a 2nd prize of $25 gift card, and many of the participating authors host their own giveaway (like I do, see rafflecopter below). The winners of the eReader will be announced on April 18th on www.diannevenetta.com and www.acozyreaderscorner.com. I will announce my winners on the same day here, on my blog. Good luck.
The linky list of participating authors. This makes it easy for you to visit each site without having to return to a main hosting site.
