"James" no wrote in message
...
I am not much of a gardner at all, but at our remote mountain cabin, I
have had success with annuals, Rhododendrums, impatiens, marigolds, and
the like.

I have never tried to grow roses, because I have always read that they are
very care-intensive, and hard to grow. Not living here fulltime, I just
have never thought I could provide the care such as spraying for insects,
etc.

My son recently bought a used cottage house in the mountains. In his back
yard there is a big clump of a rose bush that must be 25 years old or
more. I don't think it has been trimmed in many, many years. It has
real long, wild branches, some of which go off horizontally for 10-12
feet. He bought the house in the fall, at which time the wild, lanky
bushes had no roses on them. I told him that if it were mine I would cut
the entire maze back until it was 4 or 5 feet off the ground. He didn't
heed my advice.

Well today I saw this bush-maze again. It is literally covered all over
with beautiful roses, and it has dozens of more buds getting ready to
produce !!

My main point.... this monstrosity has had **no care** in many years.
I am as sure as I can be that it has not been trimmed in over 10 years,
and it has not been sprayed for insects, etc in at least several years,
because the house was unoccupied for that long.

So, what are the chances that I could plant some rose bushes at my cabin,
and that they would survive with little or no care ? I am here quite a
bit in the summer, but not from week to week.

I know there are many species, etc of roses, but what would be your guess
as to what kind of roses these are ? (They are mostly pink in color).
Is there such a thing as a wild rose bush ?

Any comments or advice would be appreciated !!

James


When I moved into my home, there were three rose bushes with flower shapes
like these:

http://www.heirloomroses.com/cgi-bin...id+Tea+R oses

I was able to enjoy about six flowers from these bushes in a period of two
years because the deer keep munching on the new buds. And the bushes were
constantly fighting with some sort of disease. I remove the bushes last
year.

Last summer, I ran across a gorgeous planting of Rosa rugosa:

http://kolibrikerteszet.hu/files/Kep...a%20Rugosa.jpg

The leaves were perfect - not a spot on them. I asked the park worker if
they were sprayed. He said these plants got nothing but mulch and a smile.
He also said the deer tend to leave them alone. A month ago, I found a white
version at a local garden center. The owner confirmed that they're pretty
much trouble free in terms of disease & deer attacks. He pointed to a row of
them that have been growing alongside his driveway for several years, and
said that if snow plowing and road salt didn't kill them, nothing would,
short of a napalm attack.

Unless you must have the hybrid tea rose flower shape, I'd look for Rosa
rugosa for disease resistance. And the leaves are terrific. I believe what
keeps the deer away is the fact that the stems are prickly/thorny
*everywhere*, right up to the bottoms of the flowers. Planting the one I
bought was a real adventure.