The irresistable rose
-
When I first got into gardening, I was sort of intimidated by roses. I kept hearing how high maintenance they can be. I was more interested in growing vegetables and herbs, and wanted the rest of my yard to sort of take care of itself. Well, first of all, nobody’s yard just takes care of itself. And, secondly, flowers are just so pretty! Once I got my vegetable garden established, I felt like I was ready to commit to flowers. I purchased some columbine, pincushion flowers, and bachelor buttons. I supplemented by planting summer bulbs. I even planted a few annuals to bring in some immediate color. But, I kept turning my back on the rose bushes. I’d admire them at the nursery, but I just thought, “I do not want to go there.”
Then, a few weeks ago, I was out looking at my flower garden and just felt like something was missing. My in-laws had surprised me with a gift certificate to one of my favorite nurseries, so I was trying to decide what I wanted to get. I decided I’d go look at the rose bushes- maybe pick out a pretty yellow variety, or a soft orange. Once I got to the nursery, I found exactly what I wanted- 2 beautiful rose bushes, both in shades of plum. I knew they’d look perfect and decided to take on the task of tending to roses.
I planted them a few weeks ago, and so far they look really good. I know that aphids have a tendency to attack roses (along with many other beloved plants), so I decided to plant marigolds throughout my flower bed. Apparently, marigolds are great companion plants for just about everything- aphids hate the smell. I’m not sure if this is true, but I do plant marigolds in my vegetable garden every year and never have much of an aphid problem.
So, we shall see if I’m able to maintain these roses and keep them satisfied. It’s almost like dating- you know, how guys find the pretty girls to be high maintenance, but too hard to resist? Or, to borrow a line from my favorite movie, When Harry Met Sally, maybe they are not high-maintenance, but “just want things the way they want them.” Afterall, roses claim to just want water, sun, and food (oh, and specific pruning, mulching, etc). Who knows, high-maintenance or not, they really are irresistable. They are beautiful and smell amazing. So, we do what we can to make them happy. And, in turn, they make us happy too.
This variety is from Weeks Roses and is called “Fragrant Plum”
This variety is from Jackson & Perkins, and though it hasn’t bloomed yet, it’s called “Purple Passion.” I’m hoping that it’s a deeper purple than the other. We’ll see!
Leave a Reply
One Response and Counting...
Thanks for the tip about Marigolds, I’ll have to plant some around my roses when we get home from vacation. And I love your purple varieties … I may have to add more bushes next year!
[Reply]