Susan H. Simko wrote:



I've always been a fan of the underdog.

I sense a kindred spirit in you, Susan! At least in this respect.
Hopefully your reaction to bullying (something often done to "underdogs")
is not as black as mine.



Must be why I like roses so
much. My neighbors have been known to laugh at me or claim I gross them
out when they see me picking the japanese beetle scourge off of my roses
on a twice daily basis during scourge season.

Ahh, what do they spend their time doing? You get what you pay for, in so
many ways, in so many areas of life. It's not that good things cannot be
easy--it's just that some of the best things are not.




Honestly, it is the fragrant roses that always get eaten up and
blackened


Love that last line! That's exactly what I'm hoping DD does which will
make any fussing with a temperamental rose well worth it.

Hee! I'm going to saunter up to a few of my underperformers and say "put
out or get out, baybee!" Actually, I am trying to give them each three
years to prove they are worth the trouble and garden real estate. But--at
times I just cannot. A scentless rose that also is stingy with blooms?
Unless the few blooms are HEAVENLY to look at, that rose is gonna have to
be gone.

Hey, I cater
to four tempermental felines in the house - roses are easy in comparison!

I have two. Hard to imagine a more perfect creature in the world. Both are
rescues/former strays. They are all wonderful, but the other day it
saddened me to see two of those overbred persians--the ones that honestly
look deformed because their faces are so flat, it is as though they have
no face? My acquaintance paid hundreds for these animals, to one of those
kitty mills, and the health problems bred into them have already meant
high vet bills. Meanwhile--thousands upon thousands of strays, many at the
no-kill shelters, healthy genetic mixes, all shots, spayed or neutered,
maybe $75. Here is my retirement plans: to become That Weird Old Lady on
the street who has about 900 cats. Only I want a vast mansion and full
time staff to care for them. And, hell, me too! G



FYI, I did order the Double Delight from Jackson and Perkins. Decided
that I *know* their quality and didn't want to take any chances with
anyone else.

I love J&P roses. There in Durham, just like here and lots of places, J&P
is all you see in potted roses in many garden centers. I have had nothing
but good results with potted J&Ps. I have never actually ordered a bare
root from them, though. Let me know how it does. My J&P BOXED Don Juan is
my very best rose!! Never out of bloom, vigorous beyond belief, medium
fragrant, damned near the perfect rose.


One of these days, I'll get around to buying *something*
from Witherspoon.

I budget about $100 a season to blow on roses at frufru nurseries. You
know, where you pay $20-$25 for potted? I find I need to have that
little "thrill!" (My GOD but I am growing middle aged!)


Maybe, some miniature roses to fill the spots where I
removed azalea bushes in one of the front beds... *grin* (I know, some
of you may consider it heresy to uproot an Azalea.

Susan, we need to have a party here at my downtown Raleigh house. I have
40-year-old azaleas in one yard--many, many, many of them--that I hate
except for that ten days in April when they bloom in concert with the
dogwoods and globe kerria and such. They were not pruned at all by the
previous owner--so when I do, they are nothing but thick wood. Some say
azaleas should be replaced every ten years.


Yes, but then what will the s.o. do for exercise and skill sharpening if
there's no grass to mow in and around the various beds?

I have two words for you: ROSE HOLES!





Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu