About Orion Farm


	About Orion Farm
	Rose Varieties Choosing a Rose Growing your Roses Available Rose Stock Ordering Instructions About Orion	We are transplanted city folk who, after the fledging of our young ones, determined to move to a piece of land large enough to grow more of the plants we had grown for years in the city, such as trees, shrubs, and roses, plus some plants we had not been able to grow, such as apple trees.We also wanted some woods and some wetland, and we were lucky enough to find such a spot 35 miles west of downtown Minneapolis. My experience with roses dates back many decades to my childhood duties. My sister helped Mother in the house; I helped Dad in the yard where he planted flowering shrubs, shade trees, a vegetable garden (i.e. a 'Victory Garden), and lawns surrounded by more trees and shrubs. He tended Rugosa Roses and a prized 'American Beauty' Hybrid Perpetual climbing rose.These were favorites--the Rugosas for their gorgeous color and fragrance as well as the health and nice form of the shrubs, and the 'American Beauty' for the shapliness of its blooms as well as its color and fragrance. Later, when the shrubs and trees were well started, he set up plots for raising hybrid tea roses. Those were beauties, certainly, but many of them could not compare in fragrance to the older shrub roses. When Leighton and I set up our first household we chose the routine landscaping of the suburbs. Plus roses. Most of the roses we planted were hybrid teas, but my uncle, who was teaching Leighton about rose-growing, was a proponent of the Brownell 'Sub-Zero' roses.With their need for less winter protection, they soon became favorites in our household as well. Especially after some disappointing losses of cherished family heirloom roses, we determined to look for the hardiest roses available.But soon came a house in the woods and after that some years too busy for more than pots on the front landing and plots of veggies for a large, hungry family. Flash to some time later and trees have grown, shade has expanded, and the available space for gardening has shrunk.Thus, the motivation for one of us to move to the country. For the other, it was the desire to see some wildlife through the sights at the end of his gun. And to see stars, not streetlights, after the sun goes down. With the prospect of seeing Orion the Hunter, the name of our place settled itself. The rose business, like many others, is changing rapidly. Many factors are feeding this change, but interest is building in roses with lovely fragrance; roses that are full of petals, with a lush, romantic look; roses bushes that have a pleasing shape in the landscape; and roses that need less care to protect them from disease and the ravages of winter. The onset of virus infections in roses has caused some changes as well. Viruses cause a decline in the health of a rose and in its production of flowers. Viruses, which can usually be detected by characteristic yellowing of plant leaves, are not easily noted in rootstock but can be easily passed from rootstock to other parts of the plant. In roses that can be propagated on their own roots, cuttings from healthy roses will make healthy new plants. Also, healthy roses can be obtained by grafting onto seedling rootstock from healthy parents. For this reason and some others, roses on their own roots have come into high demand. Generally, roses grown from rooted cuttings are slower to start and to take on size. Some varieties are very reluctant to sprout roots. This puts some pressure on prices. Perhaps some high tech. methods of production will make this easier in the future. For a further discussion of grafted versus own-root roses see Growing your Roses. At Orion Farm we also have a small orchard with a variety of apples. These apples are some of the old varieties that are noted for their delicious flavor. We grow them using a minimal spraying regimen. When the apples are available, we will post notice on the web site.
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