Looking after the Roses

Every business has it's Primadonnas and they can usually be found in the 'creative' departments like Advertising or Marketing. They demand more care than they are worth and they are the ROSES.

The Rose provides a colourful display which in the scheme of things is only glorious for a short season and then they are gone leaving just a few rather ordinary leaves holding on for dear life to what amounts to just stick like stems.

They need a lot of attention which, for the most part, is disproportionate to the display that they give. You need to employ these people with care ensuring that you use just enough manure in the beginning to encourage them on but not so much that they aquire a constant need for it throughout the rest of the season.

Beware of the rose, they will appear dormant for 50% of the year, just a load of pricks on a stick, but every now and again they suddenly create new growth and come up with a spectacular show. Whilst they feel that you should be in total awe of them and their resplendent display of innovation do not forget that this is what you are paying them to do and at the end of the day they are still just a load of pricks on a stick with a colourful blob on the end for a short period.

They are prone to diseases (which we will skip over for decency's sake) and when they get past their best they need de-heading before they go to seed. Do not be too touchy feely about this, it is their destiny and indeed any indecision at this point can lead to you being scratched by a vicious thorn. No, when they lose their creativity and the bloom is no more than an odd petal hanging on for dear life then cut off the head and wait patiently for the next years worth of interns that are waiting to climb out of the hardened root ball.

Finally, as in most Hybrids you will sometimes get a cross pollination that produces something quite spectacular. Be it a fantastic marketing idea or an award winning strategy, take it, associate yourself with it, make it your own but most of all separate the two species that created it and savagely prune back their budget to within inches of the old growth. It is your idea now and the last thing you want is anyone contaminating it or claiming otherwise.

As you can see the Rose has its place in the business but a garden full of roses would be a garden full of manure covered thorny pricks that only come out smelling of roses a couple of months in the year.

For this reason DO NOT have more than a hand full of roses in your garden at any one time.