Handmade Sleeping

Handmade Sleeping

Handmade Wooden Roses

A handmade wooden rose is made from birch wood shavings. It's hand-crafted and carved and then painted a variety of colors to look just like the real thing. In fact, when all bunched together in a bouquet, it's tough to tell a wooden rose from the real thing.

If you have roses growing in your garden and you live in a place where winter and fall are part of the landscape, you will need to get your plants ready for the cold and snow. One of the best ways to ensure that roses make it through a long winter is to do everything possible in the summer so that a healthy, strong plant grows.

Right around the beginning of or close to mid-August – four to six weeks before heavy frost is expected – the fertilization of the roses should stop. If you continue to fertilize late into the summer, it will only encourage the plant to keep growing which means new soft stems will sprout and they will be damaged easily when winter eventually sets in. Since growth of the rose is slower as the summer draws to a close, it won't need as much water. As is the case, watering should be cut back and the rose should be given the chance to dry out slightly. The leaves will turn yellow, but that's as it should be; as the plant takes food into its roots, the leaves change color. This change means the rose is ready to sleep when winter sets in.

Mulching your rose plants in the winter with such materials as compost or pine needles will help to regulate the temperature of the soil. In addition, it will assist with the freezing and thawing that will take place on the rose graft – the swollen knob near the base of the plant - as well as the lower 8-12 inches of stems.

Roses that are exposed, such as those growing on vines, can be mound mulched as well as sprayed with an anti-desiccant which creates a waxy coating on the leaves and needles that seals in moisture. Climbing roses should also be wrapped in burlap so they are protected from wind burn. If the winter conditions where you live are extreme, the entire stems of the roses can be laid on the ground instead and mulched over when the summer season is over.

With a wooden rose, preparing them for winter is never a concern. These are flowers that are hearty year round, that never have to be watered or fertilized, and will go on 'living' forever. More affordable than real flowers, a wooden rose bouquet makes a fantastic alternative at a wedding (or any special occasion) that will never deteriorate over time.

About the Author

Sophia Grace is a collector of wood roses. You can view a huge selection of quality wood roses and other plated rose gifts at Plated Gold Roses.

Is your life a really bad soap opera?

Just like in the movies I work for my ex and I'm not sure I am totally over him. We had a very emotional meeting this morning, he's getting remarried with someone else at the office. She will be moving into what used to be our house, live in the furniture I picked, enjoy the beautiful draperies I handmade and sleep in what once was our marital bed.

I was promised by both of them and eternal respect and a long prospered life in the company.

I can't help but feel sad and bitter.

No, mine is more like a Saturday news discussion program on a public broadcasting network - intellectually stimulating but very dry and totally lacking in drama.

Sleep Mask For Night Owls