My roses think it's spring! Many have bunches of
new leaves. Just my luck that we'll get a late hard
freeze and kill off a few. Meanwhile it's nice to
see the new growth. Guess I better get moving on
replacing a few dead roses from last year.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

Hi Gail, are you pruning yet? The roses are definitely convinced it's
spring. What's on your mind for replacements? I developed a fetish late
last year and have a wall of hybrid misks on the way.

ok what I meant to say was; I went with hybrid m*U*sks, completely
avoiding all the horrible problems you can have with those weak misk
roses. I'll also sign my post this time, just to be clever.
scratchy
SCTX (near Austin) Zone 8

"scratchy" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Gail, are you pruning yet? The roses are definitely convinced it's
spring. What's on your mind for replacements? I developed a fetish late
last year and have a wall of hybrid misks on the way.
SCTX (near Austin) Zone 8

Hi Scratchy -

I saw your corrected post but honestly, I *read* hybrid
musks above!

Haven't started pruning yet. I have been caught by late
freezes and lost roses, so I usually wait until later in
Feb. Plus I've been involved in other projects that
couldn't wait (new Purple Martin houses).

One of my first roses was a Moon Shadow. I really
liked it but it died after only a year or two and I
replaced it with something else. Now I'm ready to
try it again. I also kind of like the Austin roses, have
had good luck with several of those, and there's a
new yellow/gold I like (can't recall the name). My
garden is a real mixture of modern and old garden
roses.

My only Hybrid musk is Lavender Lassie, which I
adore. It's planted on one side of a small trellis,
with a passionvine planted on the other side. I got
into Noisettes a few years ago and have been
impressed with their growth. I have a bunch
planted at one end of my rose garden to serve as
a windbreak.

Gail
northeast of San Antonio TX

I haven't pruned anything, but all the new growth is making me
anxious. They're leafing out like it's the middle of March. I'm
sitting on my hands until mid-February.

I really like Noisettes, too. I started with Mme. Alfred Carriere and
now I have Crepuscule and Gloire de Dijon as well. The latter is not as
vigorous and fast growing as the others, but possibly has the prettiest
bloom. Mine is young and gets a little more shade than the other two,
though.

I planted Heritage several years ago and have added many Austin roses
since. Some definitely don't care much for our Texas summers. My best
are Heritage, Graham Thomas, Abraham Darby, Sophy's Rose and
Molineux. Sophy's Rose and Molineux are little flower factories,
always blooming. Heritage and Graham Thomas are pretty quiet during the
hottest parts of summer, but otherwise grow well and are healthy
plants. I have both out front and when they flush, it makes silent
alarms go off all over town and that's when neighbors will come ask
about my roses. LD Braithewaite, Scepter'd Isle, and Sharifa Asma did
not grow well for me and rarely had a bloom other than small flushes in
spring and fall. I've kept Sharifa Asma because the blooms it does
have are so beautiful. I'm moving her to where she'll receive more
shade in the afternoon and I'm hoping she'll perk up a bit there.
scratchy
Zone 8 TX (near Austin)

"scratchy" wrote
[snip]
I planted Heritage several years ago and have added many Austin roses
since. Some definitely don't care much for our Texas summers. My best
are Heritage, Graham Thomas, Abraham Darby, Sophy's Rose and
Molineux. Sophy's Rose and Molineux are little flower factories,
always blooming. Heritage and Graham Thomas are pretty quiet during the
hottest parts of summer, but otherwise grow well and are healthy
plants. I have both out front and when they flush, it makes silent
alarms go off all over town and that's when neighbors will come ask
about my roses. LD Braithewaite, Scepter'd Isle, and Sharifa Asma did
not grow well for me and rarely had a bloom other than small flushes in
spring and fall. I've kept Sharifa Asma because the blooms it does
have are so beautiful. I'm moving her to where she'll receive more
shade in the afternoon and I'm hoping she'll perk up a bit there.

scratchy
Zone 8 TX (near Austin)

Many thanks for those notes! It will help guide me when
I search for replacement roses.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...
"scratchy" wrote
[snip]
snip

It seems to be Spring in Seattle too. A couple of weeks ago (like January
10th or so) I noticed that winter or no winter, my roses aren't waiting.
We've had an absurdly warm winter in Seattle (not that it gets that cold
here anyway) and I even had blooms on New Years day. I figured I'd go
ahead and prune so I woudn't torture them by letting them grow, and then
cut back. SO, there it was mid-January and they're all pruned. I'm not
TOO worried about a freeze now-- very unlikely.

WHILE I was at it.....I had my local garden store give me a bid on building
a raised box along a wall where I had a hedge last year. With an $800 bid
(ouch! but really worth it....) they built me the most beautiful 20-foot
slightly terraced raised bed, and got it done in one day. Awesome job, and
a much, much better job than I was going to do myself. Now all my roses in
big pots can finally get buried. And I get to go buy new ones too! :-Þ

JimS.
Seattle
Zone 8
Where it's almost 60 today, Feb 11th!

"JimS." wrote in
[snip]
It seems to be Spring in Seattle too. A couple of weeks ago (like January
10th or so) I noticed that winter or no winter, my roses aren't waiting.
We've had an absurdly warm winter in Seattle (not that it gets that cold
here anyway) and I even had blooms on New Years day. I figured I'd go
ahead and prune so I woudn't torture them by letting them grow, and then
cut back. SO, there it was mid-January and they're all pruned. I'm
not TOO worried about a freeze now-- very unlikely.

I hope your roses do ok. I really prefer not to prune
mine for another week or two, even though some already
have buds, and others have started to bloom.

WHILE I was at it.....I had my local garden store give me a bid on
building a raised box along a wall where I had a hedge last year. With
an $800 bid (ouch! but really worth it....) they built me the most
beautiful 20-foot slightly terraced raised bed, and got it done in one
day. Awesome job, and a much, much better job than I was going to do
myself.

That makes a lot of sense to me. If I were starting now,
I'd do the same thing. My body no longer takes digging
large holes in heavy clay!

Now all my roses in
big pots can finally get buried. And I get to go buy new ones too! :-Þ

Oh yeah, like we need an excuse to buy new roses?
I just got another rose catalog and found a couple I
really like. Where to put them? I have a few in pots
and don't want more contained.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8 USA

"JimS." wrote in
[snip]
It seems to be Spring in Seattle too. A couple of weeks ago (like January
10th or so) I noticed that winter or no winter, my roses aren't waiting.
We've had an absurdly warm winter in Seattle (not that it gets that cold
here anyway) and I even had blooms on New Years day. I figured I'd go
ahead and prune so I woudn't torture them by letting them grow, and then
cut back. SO, there it was mid-January and they're all pruned. I'm
not TOO worried about a freeze now-- very unlikely.

I hope your roses do ok. I really prefer not to prune
mine for another week or two, even though some already
have buds, and others have started to bloom.

WHILE I was at it.....I had my local garden store give me a bid on
building a raised box along a wall where I had a hedge last year. With
an $800 bid (ouch! but really worth it....) they built me the most
beautiful 20-foot slightly terraced raised bed, and got it done in one
day. Awesome job, and a much, much better job than I was going to do
myself.

That makes a lot of sense to me. If I were starting now,
I'd do the same thing. My body no longer takes digging
large holes in heavy clay!

Now all my roses in
big pots can finally get buried. And I get to go buy new ones too! :-Þ

Oh yeah, like we need an excuse to buy new roses?
I just got another rose catalog and found a couple I
really like. Where to put them? I have a few in pots
and don't want more contained.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8 USA

"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...

Now all my roses in big pots can finally get buried. And I get to go
buy new ones too! :-Þ

Oh yeah, like we need an excuse to buy new roses?
I just got another rose catalog and found a couple I
really like. Where to put them? I have a few in pots
and don't want more contained.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8 USA

I finally bit the bullet and bought the J&P own-root Disneyland Rose that
I've been looking at for a couple of seasons. It's a wonderfully garish
tangerine color that some people love and others think hideously tacky (so
of course I love it!). Anyway, the J&P catalog has an offer of a "free
bareroot rose with any rose purchase from the catalog". So, of course I
took them up on it since I was already buying my Disneyland rose.

They came 2 days ago and I planted the Disneyland one today. I have to say
it was a very, very healthy looking specimen and had a VERY good root system
already established. I think it's going to kick butt. The other rose
turned out to be a "mystery rose". The tag says nothing about it but a code
number--though I could tell it also was an own-root rose. Pretty sturdy,
nice canes, good root system too. But what the heck IS it? I"m not going
to just "plant it and find out"!! Who's got that kind of real-estate to
gamble? So, I called to ask. Turns out it's a "mystery rose" from their
test panel. She has to dig a little to find out what it is (because I told
her I had no intention of planting it without knowing!) Just my luck,
it's PINK. I hate friggen pink roses. Oh well, what do you expect for
free, anyway? I guess I can use one of my recently-vacated large pots if I
decide not to plant it in the ground.

Yup, it's definitely spring in Seattle already, calendar-be-damned. 50
degrees and sunny today. Is it February?

JimS.
Seattle
Z8....mabye Z8.5 this year?!

"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...

Now all my roses in big pots can finally get buried. And I get to go
buy new ones too! :-Þ

Oh yeah, like we need an excuse to buy new roses?
I just got another rose catalog and found a couple I
really like. Where to put them? I have a few in pots
and don't want more contained.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8 USA

I finally bit the bullet and bought the J&P own-root Disneyland Rose that
I've been looking at for a couple of seasons. It's a wonderfully garish
tangerine color that some people love and others think hideously tacky (so
of course I love it!). Anyway, the J&P catalog has an offer of a "free
bareroot rose with any rose purchase from the catalog". So, of course I
took them up on it since I was already buying my Disneyland rose.

They came 2 days ago and I planted the Disneyland one today. I have to say
it was a very, very healthy looking specimen and had a VERY good root system
already established. I think it's going to kick butt. The other rose
turned out to be a "mystery rose". The tag says nothing about it but a code
number--though I could tell it also was an own-root rose. Pretty sturdy,
nice canes, good root system too. But what the heck IS it? I"m not going
to just "plant it and find out"!! Who's got that kind of real-estate to
gamble? So, I called to ask. Turns out it's a "mystery rose" from their
test panel. She has to dig a little to find out what it is (because I told
her I had no intention of planting it without knowing!) Just my luck,
it's PINK. I hate friggen pink roses. Oh well, what do you expect for
free, anyway? I guess I can use one of my recently-vacated large pots if I
decide not to plant it in the ground.

Yup, it's definitely spring in Seattle already, calendar-be-damned. 50
degrees and sunny today. Is it February?

JimS.
Seattle
Z8....mabye Z8.5 this year?!

My alone Hybrid musk is Lavender Lassie, which I adore. It's buried on one ancillary of a baby trellis, with a passionvine buried on the added side. I got into Noisettes a few years ago and accept been impressed with their growth. I accept a bunch planted at one end of my rose garden to serve as a windbreak.