NEW VIDEO ON ROSES STRESSES CULTURE, BEAUTY, AND HISTORY

TYLER, TEXAS-A new video explains both how to grow roses successfully, and why the rose is known as "the poet's flower." Getting Started with Roses…the Flower of Romance is a joint production of AGCOM International and the Tyler Rose Garden of Tyler, Texas--the Rose Capital of America.

Getting Started is "as beautiful as it is educational," says Keith Mills, Horticultural Supervisor of the Tyler Rose Garden. In the 28-minute video, Mills gives simple, step-by-step instructions and personal tips on selecting the right type of roses for a garden or apartment, and how to start growing America's national flower successfully.

The video also describes how the gods of Roman mythology gave the rose its fragrant nectar, and how Cleopatra welcomed Mark Anthony to Egypt lavishly and sensually-with a banquet on marble floors covered knee-deep in rose petals.

"Just what the beginner needs to get started right," says Leonard Veazey, Grounds Director of the American Rose Center, home of the American Rose Society, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Veazey also offers advice in the video for the new-or experienced--rosarian.

Getting Started shows how to:

• select the right roses for gardens, walls, fences, and apartments through descriptions of florabundas, grandifloras, hybrid teas, climbing and rambling roses, miniatures, and antiques roses,
• prune plants for the classic rose shape,
• build raised beds to correct soil and drainage problems,
• provide organic matter or fertilizer as plant food, and
• control destructive insects and diseases.

AGCOM filmed Getting Started at the Tyler Rose Garden and the American Rose Center¾the largest park in the United States dedicated to roses. The AGCOM production group was Lawrence J. Klaas, producer, of Tucson, Arizona; Dr. Thomas R. Hargrove, writer, of Galveston, Texas; and Dr. Ricks Pluenneke, technical advisor, of Fort Worth.

"We tried to show not only how to grow the world's most elegant and romantic flower, but also why the rose is the most ancient of plants grown for pleasure," Hargrove explains.

Getting Started With Roses is available through nurseries and lawn and garden stores. The video can be ordered directly for $24.95 plus $5 shipping and handling from the following addresses: AGCOM International, 4005 North Lugano Way, Flagstaff, AZ 86004; www.agcomintl.com ;. lklaas@ibm.net; or 1 800 598-3372. Ask for program number 98003.