Thriving Survivors

Several years ago my sister planted many rosebushes in the backyard. They have done well with minimal care--except for Queen Elizabeth, who produced only one bud and died. Not to mention all the roses at the back fence which expired when our expensive landscaping overloaded the sprinkler system (turned out just as well, as last summer's fire would have fried them anyway).

I'm not a rosarian--that would be Julie and Jared--and I'd have to google "polyanthus" and "floribunda" and "grandiflora" to figure out what I was talking about (but a "hypanthium" is a rose hip--you can read that on a tea package), so I've posted these pictures to show how PURE LUCK is the amateur gardener's best hope.

Here, then, are the stunning survivors.



This is Lady Anonymous, a grandiflora mountebankseiis. I just made that up because I forgot her name and when I went out to see if she still had the tag, I got scratched by the bountiful overgrowth and a white spider climbed into my hair. I'd like to be accurate but this one is going to have to wait until Fall when I trim it back to the canes.

It took a couple of years for her to feel comfortable, and then she really went to town. Her color is antiquey purply-pinky-possibly-mauvish, kind of like this deepening into this.







Next is one I was calling Candy Cane, but as turns out it is really a floribunda named Peppermint Twist, which is grafted onto a hardier root stock. Her name ought to be Sybil, because she has a split personality (or rather, a bad pruner). The peppermint roses are striped red, pink and white and have two- or three-inch stems.









































The root stock is crimson and blooms in masses, and I know I ought to cut the suckers off ("suckers" in this case is the actual word for the unwanted shoots from the base, not a derogatory term), but their blooms are very pretty too. Notice how improper pruning gives you that two-for-one effect.





























The most sentimental rose in my garden is Joseph's Coat. He is photosensitive, beginning as a peachy yellow bud and turning bright red as the sun hits the opening petals. By the time the bloom hits middle age, it is cherry red and fades to orange and then orange creamsicle (candy canes, popsicles, fruity candy colors, tea roses and bean plants: gardening is great for the appetite). Sweet little nose provided by the young BJ.




This next one is a patented hybrid called Knock Out. They might have included a public service announcement about the depth to which its thorns can penetrate your hands. At Harbor Freight Tools (one of my many favorite stores), I bought some leather welder's gloves. They are sturdy and long enough to cover your forearms. You can also buy rose trimming gloves but they cost a lot more and are basically the same thing. And you have to remember to use them.

May all your thorns have roses.


Sorry to leave out three bushes which are just barely hanging on, and Betty Pryor, who isn't pretty but is still alive. I don't have pictures of them. This is awfully unfair, and maybe I better get out there and water them again (it's only 98 at the moment).

This is one rose that every garden fence should wear. It's a happy trailing bushy thing with minimal thorns and is apparently bug resistant (the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph are not). This is the one you saw in the post, "Resilient Roses." I've saved fabric scraps and cut rings from old socks to tie it up along the fence, because it goes crazy and sends long shoots out along the ground and in every direction. I'd really like to recommend this one but I can't remember its name! Julie, can you help me out here?

I've sprayed my buggy plants with this recipe:
1 squirt dish soap
1 teaspoon cooking oil
filtered water to top of spray bottle

Spray in the evening and totally saturate the plant, as the oil is supposed to suffocate the bug. Spraying while the sun is beating down makes deep fried spots on the leaves and petals. Learned the hard way.

Also I've read that milk and water sprayed on plants will counteract mildew but I haven't tried it. And you should dip your cutting blades in a bleach and water solution to keep from spreading disease between plants. I give my saws and nippers a good spray of WD-40 every now and then. I don't notice it improving the yard, but it keeps them from rusting.




That's all my rose lore. I know there is a universe of roses out there if you want to google it, and this may serve as a list of time-tested and drought-tolerant varieties that you'll enjoy too. One last view of the driveway.