Everything’s coming up roses

Allentown resident has more than 400 different rose plants

By: Julie Gartland

Bob Cox of Allentown with one of the 400 different rose plants he grows all around his home. Staff photo by Phil McAuliffe

   The home of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Cox is surrounded with love, appreciation, enthusiasm, reverence and joy. Characteristics that often are used to describe religious sentiments, these terms also can be used as symbolism for the colors of roses.
   The Coxes have 400 different types of rose plants encircling their house, and they plant 100 new roses every year, including bushes, climbers, miniatures and ground cover.
   It is said that one is nearer to God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth; filled with intoxicating fragrances and a myriad of colors, along with angel garden ornaments, bird baths and the melody of the cascading water fountain, the Coxes’ garden is like a little bit of heaven.
   Gardening is one of the most popular pastimes in the world, and one of the flowers most favored by gardeners is the rose. Roses typically require a lot of attention and for Mr. Cox, they are a full-time job. He estimates he spends over 30 hours a week in the garden.
   Tending the roses “requires the patience of Jesus,” but it is his reprieve from the stress of his job as a building inspector with the City of Trenton, Mr. Cox said.
   Mr. and Mrs. Cox have lived on the busy corner of South Main Street and Yardville/Allentown Road, where the traffic has steadily increased with the growth of the area, for over 32 years. However, with the chorus of the chirping birds and the classical music emanating from the garage, the garden provides a refuge from a hectic world.
   Mr. Cox has been working on his rose collection for four years. Although he does a lot of research by reading books and searching the Internet, he said most of what he knows he discovers from being in the garden.
   “My wife started all this,” Mr. Cox said affectionately. Once the outside of the house was restored with new siding, Mrs. Cox decided she wanted to put in some roses.
   “Well, I put some in — I just threw them in the ground and said there they are,” Mr. Cox quipped.
   Then one day he noticed the roses were dying, so he set out to find out what was wrong and ultimately saved them all. Since then his interest in roses has blossomed.
   “My love for roses is because it’s the only thing that flowers from the beginning of May until December…and I grow them so I can smell them all the time,” Mr. Cox said.

A rose from Bob Cox’s garden. Staff photo by Phil McAuliffe

   “The best time for fragrance is early in the morning — they’re loaded with it,” said Mr. Cox. In addition to fragrant roses, he and his wife also look for the old Victorian type and those that are continuous bloomers when selecting roses.
   Mr. Cox said each rose is different and growers have to know the characteristics of the rose they select and how to care for it.
   “There are 19,000 different kinds of roses, so you have to narrow it down to what you want to grow,” he said.
   General care for roses includes lots of water, a full day of sun, constant deadheading and pest/disease control.
   “An inch of water a week, at the minimum,” said Mr. Cox. “Never water the bush from overhead, always at the base. If you water the bush from overhead, and it doesn’t dry before nighttime, you’ll have black spots.”
   Also necessary for maximum rose production is plenty of sun. Roses should have at least six hours of direct sun a day, the best being the morning sun, according to Mr. Cox.
   Roses love to be cut, said Mr. Cox. “The more you cut them the better they look. If you don’t deadhead them, you’re not going to have a lot of roses.” Deadheading is the term used for cutting off flowers as they wither to encourage blooming and to keep the plant healthy. The blooms should be deadheaded just as the petals are about to fall, or shortly thereafter.
   With shears in hand and adorned with his straw hat, Mr. Cox inspects each plant, cuts off the spent roses and picks off the occasional yellow leaf, commenting, “It’s a habit. Like a little old lady, huh?!”
   Many of Mr. Cox’s roses are early bloomers, so he usually has blooms by the beginning of May. He cuts them back in the fall and in the spring. It’s important to cut the roses back in the fall so they aren’t susceptible to root rock, he said, “where the wind can blow and rock them and kill them.” He stops feeding the roses and taking care of them about the end of September.
   Any gardener’s worst nightmare is an infestation of disease or pests, and roses are susceptible to both. Mr. Cox said roses in this area are very prone to black spot, a fungus that infects the whole plant and kills it.
   “Every week I spray. I try to avoid the chemicals,” he said. “I’ve researched it and I find baking soda mixed with horticultural oil is excellent. It’s all biodegradable — the rain washes it off and we start all over.”
   Mr. Cox also uses the oil/soda mix as a preventive measure against aphids, which usually start to appear in April. Another way to get rid of aphids, said Mr. Cox, is to use a high pressure hose and wash them right off. They reproduce quickly, so this method needs to be repeated every couple of days for a couple of weeks.
   If the pest or disease problem gets too severe, Mr. Cox will use a systemic that gets into the plant itself, and since the insects don’t like the taste of the leaves, they won’t eat them.
   Mr. Cox has found that epsom salts are excellent for root growth. You must be careful to use epsom salts wisely however, so as not to build up too much of a magnesium residue. Too much magnesium can stunt growth instead of helping boost new growth, he explained.
   In the center of the Coxes’ backyard, behind the garage and the smokehouse, amidst a bed of roses, is a gazing globe. Looking very much like a “giant Christmas ball,” said Mr. Cox, “the idea behind it is to gaze at and watch the world in a sort of disoriented scene.”
   Reflecting back to the viewer the beauty and spirit of the garden, maybe the gazing globe is a bit like looking through rose-colored glasses.