Thanks to Mr. Shaw’s legacy, my garden during March and April is full of lovely spring blooming flowers, shrubs, and trees. When Mr. Shaw sold me his garden and Dale his house, he left me with one rose. The rose didn’t bloom well because of too little sun. My memory told me the one time I saw it bloom, it had red flowers. After the pear tree accident created a new garden bed, I dug the rose up and moved it in the middle of the hot dry summer. My neighbor was convinced I had killed it and it did look almost dead. However, the next May it bloomed hot pink and close to the ground. It had tricked me, it was a flower carpet rose. I dug it up again that summer and moved it to cover an old stump near the back patio, a much more appropriate spot for its ground hugging nature. It looked mostly dead that summer as well, but the next spring it was once again happy and bloomed in all its hot pink gaudiness.
That’s how it started, with a relocated rose that required buckets of water and periodic pep talks on why it shouldn’t die. The next step towards rose madness was Dale’s anniversary gift to me of roses planted in front of the porch: two Fourth of July climbing roses and a Sally Homes rose. They have been there for four years and are finally growing towards their potential, even though they do not get quite enough sun. Soon, I started buying roses in bags or as bare roots and planting them here there and everywhere. Some lived, some died. I water, fertilize, prune, and periodically weed, but I do not spray for insects or disease. I do not pamper my plants. Now that I think about it, I do not pamper anything. My husband, my kids, my pets, my plants: It’s all a bit of survival of the fittest around here.
However, I decided if I was more educated on roses, I would make better choices and have a higher rose survival rate. I read books from the library, I visited rose gardens and asked questions, I read comments online. I learned about rose cuttings at a local historic home. I started buying roses grown on their own roots instead of grafted roses. I chose varieties known for disease resistance especially against blackspot which we have in abundance in Virginia. I tried to be sensible, but then the form, color, or scent of a particular rose will begin to entice me. “Look how healthy it looks sitting here in the greenhouse or on the computer,” I tell myself full well knowing it has been treated to the max and grown in idyllic conditions. I know all its accolades are too good to be true for someone who provides only spotty care. Often, I buy it and regret it. When I grow irritated with a particular rose because it is full of disease and won’t bloom well, I move it into the bed of despair behind the sun room where only ditch lilies grow in profusion.
Over the course of these last four years of rose growing, I have discovered I am not very good at growing the tea roses one would buy in a bouquet from a florist. I love them for their form and scent, but they need too much work and I am too lazy.
I am fond of my hybrid musk roses: Sally Holmes (peach to white) and Belinda (bright pink). My most reliable roses are my Rainbow Knockout (pink and yellow), Canadian Explorer Champlain (red), climbing miniature Jeanne Lajoie (light pink), and floribunda Betty Prior (deep pink). I also grow a few good shrub roses: Home Run (bright red), and – my kid’s favorite – Black Ice (dark red). I love my hybrid perpetual rose Sidonie (pink) for its beautiful scented flower.
This year I had success with two purple roses: the rambler Veilchenbleu and the centifolia The Bishop. My climbing Fourth of July roses (Red with yellow and white stripes) always make me smile when they bloom, but they get blackspot afterwards. Last year, I planted the rambler New Dawn (silver pink). It is a huge rose. If you have a fence or wall to cover, it can’t be beat.
Dale likes to purchase strange colored roses for me to plant. The strangest one is the floribunda Cinco de Mayo (smoke and rust). It clashes with everything and hurts my eyes, but it’s sure to grab your attention.
Yes, I have a lot of roses. Yes, I have gone a bit rose crazy. Many of my roses have not proven their worth. I fear to make a list of those that have died or been relegated to the bed of despair.
The one rose I would recommend everyone grow is the shrub rose Quietness (light pink). The bush has a nice form and the flowers are traditionally tea shaped with a light scent. It has proven resistant to disease and quite hardy. It brings quietness to the chaos of my garden and encourages me to stop planting, debating, hurrying, and scurrying. Quietness always reminds me to stop for a bit and enjoy God’s creation.
