My first couple of years growing roses, the very phrase "shovel prune"
rubbed me the wrong way. How damned insensitive of those wasteful
people, I thought. Especially if they announced "shovel pruning" one I
really liked, or thought I might.

Well, I think I finally understand.

I'm out there today, short on time, long on weeds, blackspot,
deadheading, and spraying. All kinds of ugly leaves, canes, insect
colonies, still roses to be potted, two more vole casualties to put to
rest. (MY FIRST Granada and their SECOND Reine des Violettes.)

I'm tired and hot as a paper pusher can be on a NC 90-degree June day.
I'm looking at the front bed, the first bed I planted. The ones that
need to go just leap out at me. George Burns. Not one more day am I
going to look at those Calvinesque (the kid, not the Reformer)
cowlicky blooms and that stumpy, ugly bush shape. Nicole. HUGE and
ungainly, pretty flowers, but NO SCENT at all. It has overpowered the
front bed for the last time.

I go back to the garage, get the permatil, gather the pots, shovel,
loppers, soil. I plan to pot both roses up, see if I can give them
away or maybe I'll just keep them in pots. I have others to put in
their place.

And then it hits me--how perfectly simple and beautiful it would be to
cut them up, dig them up, and toss them out with the yard trash.
Several less things to worry about. More room for pretty roses that I
love or other dogs I want to try!

There seems to be a whole circuit we travel with this rose-growing
thing, with many common stops along the way, where most of us
eventually rest, even if only for a while. I am at the one labeled
"Discover the Joy of Guiltless Shovel Pruning!"

Where are you?

(Shiva) writes:

My first couple of years growing roses, the very phrase "shovel prune"
rubbed me the wrong way. How damned insensitive of those wasteful
people, I thought. Especially if they announced "shovel pruning" one I
really liked, or thought I might.


And the cost. Some people talked about shovel pruning lots of roses, just
because they didn't like them. How could someone not like a rose, any rose?
And then they just bought more, wow, what a waste of money.

Well, I think I finally understand.

I'm out there today, short on time, long on weeds, blackspot,
deadheading, and spraying. All kinds of ugly leaves, canes, insect
colonies, still roses to be potted, two more vole casualties to put to
rest. (MY FIRST Granada and their SECOND Reine des Violettes.)

I'm tired and hot as a paper pusher can be on a NC 90-degree June day.
I'm looking at the front bed, the first bed I planted. The ones that
need to go just leap out at me. George Burns. Not one more day am I
going to look at those Calvinesque (the kid, not the Reformer)
cowlicky blooms and that stumpy, ugly bush shape. Nicole. HUGE and
ungainly, pretty flowers, but NO SCENT at all. It has overpowered the
front bed for the last time.

I go back to the garage, get the permatil, gather the pots, shovel,
loppers, soil. I plan to pot both roses up, see if I can give them
away or maybe I'll just keep them in pots. I have others to put in
their place.


This is the next phase. Maybe I can baby it back to health, maybe someone else
would like it better. Maybe it's just my climate or culteral practices. I
won't shovel prune the rose, I'll save it.

And then it hits me--how perfectly simple and beautiful it would be to
cut them up, dig them up, and toss them out with the yard trash.
Several less things to worry about. More room for pretty roses that I
love or other dogs I want to try!


This is the next step. Why should I even bother with a rose that I don't
enjoy? Potting them up, babying them, even giving them away is extra work, I
could be spending time with the roses I enjoy. The shovel it right there, it
really isn't as hard or time consuming when you don't have to worry about
saving the big root ball. Garbage cans. It works. Now that plant I never
liked or suffered from too much disease or whatever. It's gone! More space
for roses that I will enjoy, more time to care for them properly.

There seems to be a whole circuit we travel with this rose-growing
thing, with many common stops along the way, where most of us
eventually rest, even if only for a while. I am at the one labeled
"Discover the Joy of Guiltless Shovel Pruning!"

Where are you?

Yes, we're growing. We're learning. We're searching for the perfect roses.
I recently had this conversation with someone who had given up lots and lots of
roses due to a move. He had reached a point where he couldn't care for all of
them, even all of the ones he enjoyed. Now the number has been cut in half.
He's finding more pleasure in spending time with them, seeing them at their
best with proper care. His list of roses he "must" grow has gotten much
shorter.
That's pretty much where I am now. I'll admit there are still a lot of roses I
really would like to have. But I'm out of space, even the less than ideal
locations have been filled. And I don't have the time to spend caring
correctly for any more. When they are treated with the best of care they
reward me with good growth and lots more pretty flowers and I enjoy them all
the more. So now, it's one comes in, one goes out. So far I haven't had any
problem finding the one to remove. There's always one not living up to my
expectations.
Yep, although it's initially painful, the shovel can feel real good.

Julie

On 14 Jun 2003 20:56:43 GMT, (Unique Too) wrote:

(Shiva) writes:

My first couple of years growing roses, the very phrase "shovel prune"
rubbed me the wrong way.


And the cost. Some people talked about shovel pruning lots of roses, just
because they didn't like them. How could someone not like a rose, any rose?
And then they just bought more, wow, what a waste of money.

Exactly!

[...] maybe I'll just keep them in pots. I have others to put in
their place.


This is the next phase. Maybe I can baby it back to health, maybe someone else
would like it better. Maybe it's just my climate or culteral practices. I
won't shovel prune the rose, I'll save it.

Do you have a row of sad potted roses like I do? A virused Sonia
Rykiel, the white rose that was supposed to be Perdita but was not,
the $4 bagged Europeana that is just stumps struggling to sprout for
year two? The dying Angel Face, the damned-near-dead Chrysler Imperial
(another $4 bagged rose that never took off), the tragic Antigua that
blooms maybe three times a year? You know, Julie, I looked at that row
this afternoon and started thinking ... MINIS. I'm going to try
growing minis in those pots! Anything but those wastes of soil, water
and air.

And then it hits me--how perfectly simple and beautiful it would be to
cut them up, dig them up, and toss them out with the yard trash.
Several less things to worry about. More room for pretty roses th


This is the next step. Why should I even bother with a rose that I don't
enjoy? Potting them up, babying them, even giving them away is extra work, I
could be spending time with the roses I enjoy. The shovel it right there, it
really isn't as hard or time consuming when you don't have to worry about
saving the big root ball. Garbage cans. It works. Now that plant I never
liked or suffered from too much disease or whatever. It's gone! More space
for roses that I will enjoy, more time to care for them properly.

Precisely! And THIS time I am waiting until next year to buy them. No,
I really mean it. I am going to PLAN the front bed. Save the planning
for the winter, maybe. Unless there are some I just have to order in
the fall! No last minute trips to the nurseries this summer where the
roses that did not sell will wave their spottie leaves at me
whispering things like "EVELYN! $5! YOU can work your magic on me, you
know you can!"


... So now, it's one comes in, one goes out. So far I haven't had any
problem finding the one to remove. There's always one not living up to my
expectations.


This is what I am moving around to, I think. Maintaining about 80-100
roses by replacing ones I have given a chance but still do not like. I
have never been much of a "collector," anyway. It takes a certain sort
of mindset to enjoy collecting for collecting's sake, just to say you
have this many whatever it may be, or every single kind of whatever it
is. And when the work outstrips the enjoyment it must be time for less
roses!


Yep, although it's initially painful, the shovel can feel real good.

It sure did today!

Julie

Admittedly, I don't -- yet! -- have enough roses (more than 5, less
than 15) to actually qualify as being at a stage in the "shovel pruning"
journey, as it were, I see shovel pruning as a chance for me to exercise
(pun) freedom of choice!

Also, the digging necessary to help an underperforming rose find its true
destiny would seem to be an easier task than planting said rose in the first
place. (This makes sense only for the roses that I actually planted, since
I know how big the holes were that I dug! Also, I have "seen the light" and
its name is mini-tiller!)

Shovel pruning roses is, frankly, easier for me to accept than the fact that
I actually am growing roses in the first place! I was one of those people
who "hated" the smell of roses -- most likely because I'd been subjected
to the scent of Joy perfume (I think that's the one) -- I couldn't even
stand to have roses in a vase in the house!

Now, however, I can exercise my freedom of choice -- although my choice
may seem limiting to some people. (I'm one of those tiresome people who
orders the same thing at the same restaurants -- "because it was so good
last time" -- so I'm sure that next year, I'll be planting another Graham
Thomas and yet another Abraham Darby (now *that* fragrance could have made
me a rose fanatic years ago!), and it's okay! I'm okay, you're okay, we're
all okay!

(Actually, I may be lucky to be typing at all if I spend much more time
around Tropical Paradise -- it seems to be a prodigious thorn-producer,
but hey -- if I can get an entire vaseful of flowers by picking one stem,
what the heck?)

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC


"Unique Too" wrote in message
...
(Shiva) writes:

My first couple of years growing roses, the very phrase "shovel prune"
rubbed me the wrong way. How damned insensitive of those wasteful
people, I thought. Especially if they announced "shovel pruning" one I
really liked, or thought I might.


And the cost. Some people talked about shovel pruning lots of roses, just
because they didn't like them. How could someone not like a rose, any
rose?
And then they just bought more, wow, what a waste of money.

Well, I think I finally understand.

I'm out there today, short on time, long on weeds, blackspot,
deadheading, and spraying. All kinds of ugly leaves, canes, insect
colonies, still roses to be potted, two more vole casualties to put to
rest. (MY FIRST Granada and their SECOND Reine des Violettes.)

I'm tired and hot as a paper pusher can be on a NC 90-degree June day.
I'm looking at the front bed, the first bed I planted. The ones that
need to go just leap out at me. George Burns. Not one more day am I
going to look at those Calvinesque (the kid, not the Reformer)
cowlicky blooms and that stumpy, ugly bush shape. Nicole. HUGE and
ungainly, pretty flowers, but NO SCENT at all. It has overpowered the
front bed for the last time.

I go back to the garage, get the permatil, gather the pots, shovel,
loppers, soil. I plan to pot both roses up, see if I can give them
away or maybe I'll just keep them in pots. I have others to put in
their place.


This is the next phase. Maybe I can baby it back to health, maybe someone
else
would like it better. Maybe it's just my climate or culteral practices.
I
won't shovel prune the rose, I'll save it.

And then it hits me--how perfectly simple and beautiful it would be to
cut them up, dig them up, and toss them out with the yard trash.
Several less things to worry about. More room for pretty roses that I
love or other dogs I want to try!


This is the next step. Why should I even bother with a rose that I don't
enjoy? Potting them up, babying them, even giving them away is extra
work, I
could be spending time with the roses I enjoy. The shovel it right there,
it
really isn't as hard or time consuming when you don't have to worry about
saving the big root ball. Garbage cans. It works. Now that plant I
never
liked or suffered from too much disease or whatever. It's gone! More
space
for roses that I will enjoy, more time to care for them properly.

There seems to be a whole circuit we travel with this rose-growing
thing, with many common stops along the way, where most of us
eventually rest, even if only for a while. I am at the one labeled
"Discover the Joy of Guiltless Shovel Pruning!"

Where are you?

Yes, we're growing. We're learning. We're searching for the perfect
roses.
I recently had this conversation with someone who had given up lots and
lots of
roses due to a move. He had reached a point where he couldn't care for
all of
them, even all of the ones he enjoyed. Now the number has been cut in
half.
He's finding more pleasure in spending time with them, seeing them at
their
best with proper care. His list of roses he "must" grow has gotten much
shorter.
That's pretty much where I am now. I'll admit there are still a lot of
roses I
really would like to have. But I'm out of space, even the less than ideal
locations have been filled. And I don't have the time to spend caring
correctly for any more. When they are treated with the best of care they
reward me with good growth and lots more pretty flowers and I enjoy them
all
the more. So now, it's one comes in, one goes out. So far I haven't had
any
problem finding the one to remove. There's always one not living up to my
expectations.
Yep, although it's initially painful, the shovel can feel real good.

Julie

"Anne Lurie" writes:

Now, however, I can exercise my freedom of choice -- although my choice
may seem limiting to some people. (I'm one of those tiresome people who
orders the same thing at the same restaurants -- "because it was so good
last time" -- so I'm sure that next year, I'll be planting another Graham
Thomas and yet another Abraham Darby (now *that* fragrance could have made
me a rose fanatic years ago!), and it's okay! I'm okay, you're okay, we're
all okay!

Another step in growing with roses. Accepting that it's okay whatever choices
other people make. Myself, I only have duplicates of two roses (out of ~50).
I like variety. I order something different when we eat out, just because I've
never tried "that: before. It's led me to try Octopus (disgusting), escargot
(love 'em), raw oysters (they're okay), fish eggs (what is the proper term? and
I paid How Much for that!).
But it's okay. If you are happy with fifteen roses of five varieties, that's
okay with me. Shiva likes her big blowsey HTs in garish colors. I like the
OGRs in mostly soft colors. She sprays on a regular basis, I'm trying to rid
my gaden of BS magnets. But it's okay. We love roses, just in different
ways.

On 15 Jun 2003 01:13:44 GMT, (Unique Too) wrote:

Julie wrote:

Shiva likes her big blowsey HTs in garish colors. I like the
OGRs in mostly soft colors.

Great gooooooogly moogly, girl! I think you meant to say that I like
vibrant colors and YOU liked drab colors.

G

On Sat, 14 Jun 2003 22:51:57 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:


Also, the digging necessary to help an underperforming rose find its true
destiny would seem to be an easier task than planting said rose in the first
place.

Yet another excellent point. I had one bed professionally dug
(supposedly he drilled beyond the hardpan into the sand for drainage,
as you mentioned you did) but most of the rest were dug by me. I
learned the necessity of digging only when there had been just enough
rain--too much is as bad as not enough.

(This makes sense only for the roses that I actually planted, since
I know how big the holes were that I dug! Also, I have "seen the light" and
its name is mini-tiller!)

Do you own one, or rent one? Since you are right here in my area, I'd
love to know what you bought, where, etc.


Shovel pruning roses is, frankly, easier for me to accept than the fact that
I actually am growing roses in the first place! I was one of those people
who "hated" the smell of roses -- most likely because I'd been subjected
to the scent of Joy perfume (I think that's the one) -- I couldn't even
stand to have roses in a vase in the house!

The smell on the flower is nothing like that junk. I hate floral
smells on anything but fresh flowers. I don't even like the scent of
dried rose petals au naturel..

[...]

so I'm sure that next year, I'll be planting another Graham
Thomas and yet another Abraham Darby (now *that* fragrance could have made
me a rose fanatic years ago!)

Anne--I chose Golden Celebration over Graham Thomas (just because I
had to choose, or thought I did] and am not so thrilled with GC
because unless I am not getting up early enough, it has no real scent
to my nose. As for Abe, I ordered one, then killed it in the Infamous
Overfertilizing Incident in which Livin' Easy, Distant Drums, Angel
Wings, Radio Times, and perhaps others perished. [I am trying to
forget!] I was so distraught I had to buy THREE Abraham Darbys and
FOUR Distant Drums, just so that if it happened again there might be
survivors! I have three ADs in a vase now. They are lucious, and do
not drop their petals as quickly as some Austins. It may be a matter
of minutes, but still! G

(Actually, I may be lucky to be typing at all if I spend much more time
around Tropical Paradise -- it seems to be a prodigious thorn-producer,
but hey -- if I can get an entire vaseful of flowers by picking one stem,
what the heck?)

Hmm .. tottering off to Helpmedfind.com to look that one up.


Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC


"Unique Too" wrote in message
...
(Shiva) writes:

My first couple of years growing roses, the very phrase "shovel prune"
rubbed me the wrong way. How damned insensitive of those wasteful
people, I thought. Especially if they announced "shovel pruning" one I
really liked, or thought I might.


And the cost. Some people talked about shovel pruning lots of roses, just
because they didn't like them. How could someone not like a rose, any
rose?
And then they just bought more, wow, what a waste of money.

Well, I think I finally understand.

I'm out there today, short on time, long on weeds, blackspot,
deadheading, and spraying. All kinds of ugly leaves, canes, insect
colonies, still roses to be potted, two more vole casualties to put to
rest. (MY FIRST Granada and their SECOND Reine des Violettes.)

I'm tired and hot as a paper pusher can be on a NC 90-degree June day.
I'm looking at the front bed, the first bed I planted. The ones that
need to go just leap out at me. George Burns. Not one more day am I
going to look at those Calvinesque (the kid, not the Reformer)
cowlicky blooms and that stumpy, ugly bush shape. Nicole. HUGE and
ungainly, pretty flowers, but NO SCENT at all. It has overpowered the
front bed for the last time.

I go back to the garage, get the permatil, gather the pots, shovel,
loppers, soil. I plan to pot both roses up, see if I can give them
away or maybe I'll just keep them in pots. I have others to put in
their place.


This is the next phase. Maybe I can baby it back to health, maybe someone
else
would like it better. Maybe it's just my climate or culteral practices.
I
won't shovel prune the rose, I'll save it.

And then it hits me--how perfectly simple and beautiful it would be to
cut them up, dig them up, and toss them out with the yard trash.
Several less things to worry about. More room for pretty roses that I
love or other dogs I want to try!


This is the next step. Why should I even bother with a rose that I don't
enjoy? Potting them up, babying them, even giving them away is extra
work, I
could be spending time with the roses I enjoy. The shovel it right there,
it
really isn't as hard or time consuming when you don't have to worry about
saving the big root ball. Garbage cans. It works. Now that plant I
never
liked or suffered from too much disease or whatever. It's gone! More
space
for roses that I will enjoy, more time to care for them properly.

There seems to be a whole circuit we travel with this rose-growing
thing, with many common stops along the way, where most of us
eventually rest, even if only for a while. I am at the one labeled
"Discover the Joy of Guiltless Shovel Pruning!"

Where are you?

Yes, we're growing. We're learning. We're searching for the perfect
roses.
I recently had this conversation with someone who had given up lots and
lots of
roses due to a move. He had reached a point where he couldn't care for
all of
them, even all of the ones he enjoyed. Now the number has been cut in
half.
He's finding more pleasure in spending time with them, seeing them at
their
best with proper care. His list of roses he "must" grow has gotten much
shorter.
That's pretty much where I am now. I'll admit there are still a lot of
roses I
really would like to have. But I'm out of space, even the less than ideal
locations have been filled. And I don't have the time to spend caring
correctly for any more. When they are treated with the best of care they
reward me with good growth and lots more pretty flowers and I enjoy them
all
the more. So now, it's one comes in, one goes out. So far I haven't had
any
problem finding the one to remove. There's always one not living up to my
expectations.
Yep, although it's initially painful, the shovel can feel real good.

Julie

I am in the same boat. I have "Grand Finale" planted in the front yard. FULL
sun, watered regularly, fertilized up the ying yang, and what do I get? Ugly
white roses, that sometimes don't open, and plain look like junk. If the
rose doesn't start acting normally, it shall be shovel pruned!

I have JFK in the backyard, and that one doesn't perform well either.

It's the last time I buy white roses!

Emil
Zones 9-10

(Shiva) wrote in m:

There seems to be a whole circuit we travel with this rose-growing
thing, with many common stops along the way, where most of us
eventually rest, even if only for a while. I am at the one labeled
"Discover the Joy of Guiltless Shovel Pruning!"

Where are you?


io'm still agonizing over where to put 4 6" Dr. Hueys that
cropped up out of an old bed. I put stakes so they can be carefully mowed
around whilst i find the perfect spot for them!

Shiva wrote:
On 15 Jun 2003 01:13:44 GMT, (Unique Too) wrote:

Shiva likes her big blowsey HTs in garish colors. I like the
OGRs in mostly soft colors.

Great gooooooogly moogly, girl! I think you meant to say that I like
vibrant colors and YOU liked drab colors.

To-may-to, to-mah-to.

--
Henry

On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 07:41:23 -0400, Henry
wrote:

Shiva wrote:
On 15 Jun 2003 01:13:44 GMT, (Unique Too) wrote:

Shiva likes her big blowsey HTs in garish colors. I like the
OGRs in mostly soft colors.

Great gooooooogly moogly, girl! I think you meant to say that I like
vibrant colors and YOU liked drab colors.

To-may-to, to-mah-to.

Sort of my point. I'm just poking at Julie.

--
Henry

X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.21/32.243
Path: kermit!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!free.teranews.c om!not-for-mail
Xref: kermit rec.gardens.roses:93971

On Sat, 14 Jun 2003 20:44:40 -0700, "Emil" wrote:

I am in the same boat. I have "Grand Finale" planted in the front yard. FULL
sun, watered regularly, fertilized up the ying yang, and what do I get? Ugly
white roses, that sometimes don't open, and plain look like junk. If the
rose doesn't start acting normally, it shall be shovel pruned!

I hate to say this, but that makes me feel better, because I looked at
GF and instead chose Full Sail. Full Sail produces, as you say, "Ugly
white roses, that sometimes don't open, and plain look like junk" for
most of the year but in the few days of cooler, thripless weather we
have in the spring and fall, it produces truly lovely creamy white,
HUGE classic ht shaped blooms with great substance. Thick petals, long
vase life. I had to let it live.



I have JFK in the backyard, and that one doesn't perform well either.

It's the last time I buy white roses!


Well, Emil, you are in California, aren't you? Forgive my poor memory.
There is one white rose I really like, affter trying many. It is the
grandiflora White Lightening. Smallish, ruffly blooms, not great form,
but a great lemony scent and does not stop blooming here.

This year the baby grafted Crystalline will not stop putting out big
blooms, though it was a bare root planting in March. Very lovely,
classic form, snowy white with no yellow. But it is too new to tell.

I am not fond of white roses because everything shows up on them--and
they tend to age badly. But, just as with my quest for the best
purple, I am driven to find the best white because someone I adore
loves white roses. If we can't do something for love, why do anything
at all?



Emil
Zones 9-10

On Sun, 15 Jun 2003 05:58:13 GMT, "Caterbro"
wrote:




io'm still agonizing over where to put 4 6" Dr. Hueys that
cropped up out of an old bed. I put stakes so they can be carefully mowed
around whilst i find the perfect spot for them!

Carl, you sweet soul. I imagine you inherited these Hueys? They can be
quite impressive. There is one on the north wall of the NC Governor's
mansion that is very old. It erupts every spring, stays full of blooms
for at least a month, no kidding, cascading over this eight-foot wall.
Then, since they do not deadhead it, it produces lovely fat orange
hips that give color all winter.


Have you got many blooms yet? Has it stopped raining? Yesterday I so
wanted to spray (for the first time in weeks!) but it rained, as it
has nearly every day for weeks unless I have a reason to be away from
home all day. My poor babies look awful. Many dropped leaves.

(Shiva) writes:

Shiva likes her big blowsey HTs in garish colors. I like the
OGRs in mostly soft colors.

Great gooooooogly moogly, girl! I think you meant to say that I like
vibrant colors and YOU liked drab colors.

I was hoping you'd read that. G

(Shiva) writes:

Do you have a row of sad potted roses like I do?

It's good to be asked that question once in a while. When I read it, I began
to worry, I do have several roses in pots. Why are they there? Am I still
trying "save" roses?
So this morning I counted.
Eleven.
A breakdown goes like this:
Secret Garden Musk Climber - I wanted to plant this one near a tree, but there
are too many roots there. So I cut the bottom out of a HUGE Rubbermaid
container, built up the soil underneath and planted the rose in the pot. It's
in it's permanet (I hope) home.
Darlow's Enigma - a new rose, I'm waiting for it to grow a little more before I
plant it. The spot is already vacant and waiting.
Not Reine des Violetts - This one is going to a good home on Tuesday.
Maman Cochet - an extra from cuttings I rooted this winter. It is going to the
same good home.
Vasquez - a mini that I potted up this morning. It looked good in a pot, but
didn't do as well in the ground. So I put it back in the pot where I plan to
keep it.
Three other miniatures - their permanent home is a pot. They seem to do better
in pots for me.
Summer Flurries - I had to move this one this spring because it was being
crowded out. Since I didn't get a lot of roots, I potted it to get it going
well. It's home will be the recently vacated spot of Vasquez.
Loius Phillipe (2) - cuttings I'm just waiting to grow a little more. Mine
will occupy the spot vacated by Mons Tillier (He got the shovel this spring.)
The other will be a gift to my mother, probably for her birhday in September.

Sorry you asked? g

A virused Sonia
Rykiel, the white rose that was supposed to be Perdita but was not,
the $4 bagged Europeana that is just stumps struggling to sprout for
year two? The dying Angel Face, the damned-near-dead Chrysler Imperial
(another $4 bagged rose that never took off), the tragic Antigua that
blooms maybe three times a year? You know, Julie, I looked at that row
this afternoon and started thinking ... MINIS. I'm going to try
growing minis in those pots! Anything but those wastes of soil, water
and air.


Are they gone yet? It's Sunday, you should have had time today. And when
they're in pots it's really quick. BTW, Uncommon Rose and Sequoia are still
shipping minis. You can fill those pots very easily and with some good roses.



Precisely! And THIS time I am waiting until next year to buy them. No,
I really mean it. I am going to PLAN the front bed. Save the planning
for the winter, maybe. Unless there are some I just have to order in
the fall! No last minute trips to the nurseries this summer where the
roses that did not sell will wave their spottie leaves at me
whispering things like "EVELYN! $5! YOU can work your magic on me, you
know you can!"


And even if you plan and ponder all winter, there will still be some that don't
cut it. That's gardening. Growing with roses means you are finally able to
get rid of those that don't meet your expectations.



This is what I am moving around to, I think. Maintaining about 80-100
roses by replacing ones I have given a chance but still do not like. I
have never been much of a "collector," anyway. It takes a certain sort
of mindset to enjoy collecting for collecting's sake, just to say you
have this many whatever it may be, or every single kind of whatever it
is. And when the work outstrips the enjoyment it must be time for less
roses!


I think when you ariive at this point you're beginning to reach a certain
maturity with roses. Life, time and money are too short to waste time on
plants that don't give you pleasure.

Julie