June is Rose Month. Such a simple statement for a plant that gives so much pleasure and so much pain for gardeners. A plant used as a symbol of warring parties. A plant described as a shrubby nightmare with the blessing of a perfect flower. A plant that I described as being absolutely wonderful... in someone else's yard.

Don't get me wrong. Roses have a fragrance almost as wonderful as a lilac, if you happen to be lucky and get a rose with a strong fragrance. Petals have a velvety sheen that make them easy to caress.

Roses, though, are one of the most fickle plants ever perpetuated on gardeners. In all my years of helping people grow plants, nothing frustrates like a rose.

Some people have all the luck. They put the bush in the ground and the darn thing grows in spite of any effort or lack thereof. Some will cut down all the surrounding trees and shrubs to make sure the plants have the required 10 hours of sunlight daily. They'll invest in drip irrigation systems with timers to water the plants religiously. They'll haul heavy soil out and fresh loamy soil in to allow root growth. And they'll still fail.

So, what does it take to grow good roses?

The need to be committed, or more accurately I guess, a strong commitment. You could misread the first part, though in reality, it might not be that far off.

Roses take time and patience. You have to fuss with the soil, fuss with the water, fuss with the pruning and fuss with the pest control.

Each rose bush takes about a half hour per week of pruning, spraying, feeding and watering, if you want top quality roses.

Roses like the absolute best soil in the world. But the rose roots don't spread as far as most people think. Some studies have indicated the roots only spread as wide as the initial planting hole. So dig a big hole.

Work that organic matter into the soil. Got clay soil? Create a raised bed 18-inches high filled with organic matter and good topsoil. The looser the soil, the better the root growth.

Fertilizer and water are also key factors. Most of us have no problem applying fertilizer, and in the case of roses, it's almost impossible to give the plant too much.

They also make the mistake of not giving the plants enough water. We'll water the death out of tomatoes, but not the roses. Give the plants at least an inch or two of water per week. If you have that top quality soil, you could probably give them a bit more. Don't drown them, but don't think they love 90-degree days with little water.

Mulch to cut down on diseases and watering. Use fresh mulch each year. Re-use old mulch someplace else in the garden.

For those of you with less inclination to spend every waking moment watering, fertilizing and trying to control black spot disease with fungicide sprays every seven days, there are some roses that need less care.

As a group, shrub roses usually are more carefree and have a beauty in their own right. They may not have 30 to 60 petals, and they may have just as many or more thorns, but they tend to be more pest resistant and bloom just as well.

Rugosa roses are practically winter-proof and greatly scented. They also tend to have thorns every nanometer up the stem.

David Austin roses from England tend to be quite fragrant, but with a flower that isn't as pointed as what you might think. They can be fragrant and quite prolific in flowering. They can be Japanese beetle and black spot magnets, though.

Or do what I do. Cultivate friends who grow roses. Then marvel at "how nice that pretty red rose would look in the vase that great-grandmother gave you." Praise and guilt can do the trick just about every time.

David Robson is an Extension Educator, Horticulture, at the Springfield Extension Center, University of Illinois Extension, P.O. Box 8199, Springfield, IL 62791. Telephone: (217) 782-6515. E-Mail: drobson@uiuc.edu

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