On Sat, 15 Mar 2003, "Allegra" wrote:

Where the heck is Spring?

It's in Texas right now. Headin' your way shortly.

What are you planting these days?

Well, I went a little climber-crazy this year. I've got my Celestial (your
suggestion) planted to climb up the fireplace. If you remember, I was
considering MAC for that spot, but decided MAC might appreciate an entire
wall to itself after seeing a lovely specimen on the side of someone's
house out by the lake. Russelliana is going to climb over the mailbox with
some wildflowers underneath (echinacea, blanket flower, flax, poppy,
bluebonnet, primrose, coreopsis, indian paintbrush, wallflower, and some
blue grama grass underneath to add nitrogen.) I've got a new Sombreuil (not
a new rose for me - but a real fave) for the trellis along the front
walkway. Don Juan is new on the opposite side. Clematis durandii grows with
the roses there. And despite all the warnings and teary-eyed pleas to not
even go there, I stubbornly went ahead and planted Mermaid to climb up a
clump of 3 live oak trees on the south side. I'll have to post pics of my
bleeding hands as it grows and I attempt to train it up the trunks. It's
already showing some of those infamous thorns and they are impressive.

Even though I told myself I had enough Austins to keep me busy, I broke
down and ordered L.D. Braithwaite (can't have enough good reds, can ya?)
and Golden Celebration. Then rounding out what's already arrived and in the
ground are Gruss An Aachen, Livin' Easy, Marchessa Boccella and Souvenir de
la Malmaison.

Today, I received what I believe to be a "mystery rose." It was supposed to
be a Mutabilis. The rose I received was a bare root graft - Mutabilis was
supposed to be a three gallon own root. The rose I received has big wide
black thorns. I have a Mutabilis on one corner of the house already and
that's not even close. I will plant it and we'll see what grows. Maybe it
will be a happy surprise. It will go in the "test garden" though. I took
over an old vegetable garden no one was interested in and have turned it
into a testing garden for roses I'm not sure of. If I'm pushing the zone,
or if the rose is known to be difficult to grow, etc - it goes there
first. If it flourishes, I move it or start taking cuttings if I like the
placement of the original rose. If it doesn't, well, that's what shovels
are for. It works out pretty well. I get what looks like a lovely rose
garden instead of a untended patch of dirt in the back forty and no one
notices the failures back there. It backs up against a fence and I have a
row of Abraham Darby growing as climbers in the back as permanent citizens
and that really helps create the illusion of "I meant to do that."
Deceptive, no? g

I think I may have to buy the empty lot next door.

Mike