Planting the Roses!

When we moved in to this house I found 6 sad, uncared for roses. I love roses. I think people don't expect me to be a rose girl. Don't old ladies grow roses? I have had a rose thing for a long time. In California I grew lots of old roses. Big blooms, tons of petals and big fragrances. So romantic. So finding these in the yard made me want to add more.

These sad roses barely made it through winter. In fact we took out a couple that looked like they would never come back in a good way. I held tight until March when the Seattle Rose Society said I should cut my roses way back.

Now we only had to order the new roses we wanted to add in. I found Heirloom Roses out of St. Paul, Oregon. They sell own-root roses which are first year cuttings grown and shipped in special pots. The pot allows a strong root system to develop and the rose will not experience the transplant shock bare-root roses do. The own-root roses are smaller than budded roses and grow very rapidly. Once I read all about the own-root roses I knew that this is what I wanted.

They would not ship to use before the fear of frost so we were slated to get our roses at the end of March. We ordered early as they sell out of the popular roses pretty fast.

We decided on 6 roses including one climber. Pink roses are my favorite so along with pink we picked some peachy roses. We also used the Seattle Rose Society rose guide to make sure we were picking tried and true roses for our area. This is a super handy guide. Here are our choices.

Mary Rose - David Austin English Rose - This is one of the most outstanding of the English Roses. Luscious, old-style, double 3 1/2" blooms with 70+ petals of a pleasant shade of medium pink give forth a strong, heady perfume. The quality of the blooms and great fruity/myrrh fragrance are matched by the quality of the bush.

Zephirine Drouhin - Our climber. We planted her in the back yard on the long fence. A climbing Bourbon that may be the most consistently blooming, large flowered climbing rose, with the added benefit that it is thorn-less.

Portlandia - Shrub Rose/Heirloom - This outstanding continually blooming shrub rose has an old-fashioned look. Its many petaled 3 1/2 blooms with 80+ petals with a rich golden apricot center which shades to pink and cream. The blooms have a fruity fragrance and are produced in good sized clusters on long stems.

Brilliant Pink Iceberg - Shrub Rose -The 3 1/2" bloom is a brighter pink and white blend distinguished by very dark pink stamens, having a mild fragrance. Continual blooming.

Touch of Class - Hybrid Tea - Rated by the American Rose Society as the finest hybrid tea rose in the world. Its most perfect buds open slowly and spiral into one of the most perfect and beautiful of all roses. The long pointed buds are a blend of the colors pink, orange and cream and finish a lovely shade of coral pink with cream highlights. The 5 1/2" blooms come on long cutting stems.

Kateryna - Shrub Rose/Heirloom - A beautiful little shrub rose with delicate, 2 1/2" blooms of soft, shell-pink produced in large clusters on a compact repeat blooming spreading bush with glossy, dark-green foliage. Excellent for the front of the border in perennial gardens or as a landscape specimen plant.

I was really surprised to see how small they were when they arrived.

We waited until a clear weekend and got out in the yard to plant them. It was a big job. Mr. Ramon digging the big holes and mixing in the compost and bone meal. I made protective rings from chicken wire to make sure the dogs would not crush them.

It was a long day of good work. I think we finished sometime after dark. It feels really good to be out in the dirt. I am excited to see how they grow as the season warms up.