Growing roses in Bangalore
I have been growing roses in bangalore from the past 2 years. Roses do well out here other than for the diseases and during winter months.
Very difficult to source the Roses though. Lalbagh's Nursery is the best of the places to get hold of decent roses but the gardeners selling dont know much about what they are selling or frankly I dont think they care. But this is the realiable and cheap place to buy bangalore. Difficult to get the exotic stuff and if you keep going weekly (preferably saturday mornings) you could be in luck.
They have lots of button roses and some amount of hybrid tees. You dont get the exotic peaches and yellows but you may be surprised to different shades of pinks and reds and whites. Not much of yellow and oranges though but you do get them occationally.
If you are lucky enough you may get some green rose (basically on the green sepals) and some dark red roses which are kind turn to black if exposed to sun light.
I am big fan of Climber roses (in india they call them creeper roses). I managed to get a white climber rose and a white rambler been trying for a red climber but with no luck. When we ask the gardeners for a red climber they usualy give you a small red rambler which does not grow well and the flowers are not that beautiful.
I plant chamanti (CHRYSANTHEMUM) in between the roses. They are supposed to repel insects and help the roses. We do use a pesticide which we buy in lalbagh. It is a mixture of a fungicide and insecticide. I avoid spraying a lot but some times we cannot avoid it.
There is another place called sidapura which has a bunch of nurseries and some of them are supposed to couple of 100 years old. They do sell roses but not of the best quality. They are present near the east gate of Lalbagh.