THINK A ROSE IS A ROSE? CATALOGS OFFER ABUNDANT VARIETY.

Byline: Pam Waterman Correspondent

January is the time for Southern California gardeners to get serious about roses.

The month begins with the breathtaking display of millions of blooms on the Tournament of Roses parade floats. These are hothouse beauties, of course, but still they make us crave blooming roses of our own.

The first step is to decide where new bare-root plants fit into your landscape. Whether you have room for two or 20 new bushes, the fun is choosing among hundreds of roses available this time of year in bare-root form.

Start with the catalogs

Pick up a Weeks Roses catalog, open the front page and salivate over the new hybrid tea ``Gentle Giant,'' a rich vibrant pink with an inner glow of golden yellow. Turn the page to see ``Burgundy Iceberg,'' a rose that promises the same easy care as its white parent but with a deep purple-red color.

Look at the 2007 introductions in the Star Roses catalog, and you'll yearn to add several to your garden. ``Mother of Pearl,'' a glowing peachy-pink grandiflora is my favorite, but the bloom of miniature ``Pink Sunblaze'' reminds me of my all-time favorite rose, ``Eden.''

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Orchard Supply Hardware has commissioned two new hybrids, ``Orchard's Pride'' and ``Sweet San Carlos.'' Jim Coiner of Coiner Nursery in La Verne developed the celebratory roses: one a 4 1/2-inch hybrid tea with ruffled pink-blend blooms and the other a compact floribunda with deep lavender blooms.

Out with the old ...

If you think you don't have room for another rose, my advice is to employ a technique called ``shovel pruning,'' where you take a shovel to the roots of a frustrating rose.

I have one such plant in my garden. For three years, I've given it a place in the sun, water, fertilizer and a slight amount of affection. My reward has been masses of dark green foliage without a single bloom. To be honest, the rose was donated by a friend. She said it hadn't bloomed for her, but of course I thought I was the one destined to make it happy. It didn't happen.

As soon as I take possession of ``Liv Tyler,'' a coral pink, old-fashioned hybrid tea that I won in a raffle last fall, she will get the space formerly occupied by the non-bloomer. Shovel pruning is harsh -- but sometimes necessary.

... In with the new

Bring your bare root roses home from the nursery and plant them as soon as possible. Dig your hole twice the size of the root ball, mixing the soil equally with compost or soil amendment. Make a mound of the mixed soil and spread the roots on top after soaking them in water for at least one hour. Then make certain the bud union is at least 2 to 3 inches above the soil level after you tap it down.

Water the newly planted rose thoroughly and wait for two to three inches of new growth before you begin fertilizing. New gardeners often don't realize how important it is to keep a regular routine of rose feeding. I have a potted tree rose, ``Just Joey,'' that had six cycles of bloom this year because I remembered to keep giving it a mix of dry and liquid all-purpose fertilizer.

If you don't have much space, treat yourself to one of the newer, smaller roses, perhaps a shrublet like ``Gourmet Popcorn'' or a miniature such as ``Yellow Sunblaze.''

When you plant a bare-root rose, you're investing in the future. If you plant those bare, leafless sticks properly this month, by April you'll understand why roses are America's favorite flower.

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``Burgundy Iceberg'' is an easy-care variety.

Photo courtesy Weeks Roses