Here are my two pleasant surprises of the season! The red rose was nothing more than a forgotten twig when we moved here, never reaching higher than my knee and not a bloom in sight. The pink rose was "leggy" to say the least, towering well over my 5' with nothing but a few scraggly blooms the size of the tip of my thumb. They both sat unexcited about life, merely existing (I'v known a few people like this as well). I wasn't quite sure what to do as I am not really a "rose" person. I have always envied the gardener who could master the rose. My favorite book and movie as a little girl was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I loved the thought of the little girl bringing the roses out of lifeless dormancy into lovely cascading waves and falls, splashed with magnificent colors. Even after watching the movie and reading the book countless times, I had no idea how to actually get them back into shape! I picked up a few tips here and there and by following them I was able to rejuvenate my pink rose. What I did for the red one, god only knows, could have been the fact that I tilled up a spot all around it to put in some other plants. I'm just glad I decided to leave it! On the advice of a friend, I went wild with a pair of loppers last fall and chopped that pink one right down to about knee level. This spring I was sure it was dead........but "ta-da," it started sending up new shoots and and before I knew it, it was covered in big fat buds! This has me thinkin' am I secretly a rose person? Can I do this? We shall see!
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| Beautiful, fragrant, almost the size of my palm! |
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| These are just a few..... |
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| This was a huge surprise! |
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| Up close and personal with the red |
