Can I pretend I have a green thumb?

Since GK and I moved to Texas, and to a HOUSE, we've had to start learning about lawn care and yard work. We lived in a condo in Chicago so we didn't have to deal with this. Some nice men planted flowers at our building every year and we enjoyed them. But now, NOW we have to (gasp) do it all ourselves. Now don't get me wrong, we hired someone to cut the grass and trim around the house - we're taking baby steps people - but we are in charge of weeding and planting the beautiful flowers we're accustom to in Chicago. I know, it was shocking to us too. You see GK and I know very little about this stuff. Don't even get me started on how we have to water our house's foundation too. That I'll save for another post.

We've lived in the house over a month now and I just realized I have three rose bushes out back! To be honest with you the only reason I realized they were there was because one tiny little rose sprouted from one of them. I'm actually really excited about the rose bushes and can't wait to see what they look like in full bloom, but my issue is trying not to kill them before they bloom. I'm not so good with keeping plants alive. So if anyone knows any secrets to keeping rose bushes alive can you pass that info along to me? I've been watering them every couple of days, but we'll see. I've still got to do a lot of weed pulling and fertilizing around the flower beds I think (but again, I'm not so good with this crap so it may be trial and error for the poor plants). Next on my list is finding some pretty flowers that grow best in complete shade. Looks like the gardening people at LOWE's will be my new best friends for a while...