 |
| Veterans Honor Rose |
As they say in Maine, a "wicked stawm" was coming. That meant ideal weather for planting, so I went to work, with Sassy supervising. I bought various tomatoes at Walmart and planted them in the vegetable garden. The sunny (straw bale) garden was a good place to start the Scarlet Runner beans, so I planted them between cherry tomato plants, along the fence.
Later some roses arrived - Big Purple and Veterans Honor. Storm forecasts were more ominous and the weather turned cool and breezy. The push of chilled air is a sure sign of a thunderstorm on the way.
Mrs. Ichabod applied the lash to get me finished before lightning finished me off. Fortunately the rose garden's delightful soil texture extends beyond the mulched area. As I dug between the daffodils and tulips, the shovel sank quickly into the soil, except for one spot.
The Jackson and Perkins roses looked magnificent. This is how I plant bare root roses:
- I dig the holes in the lawn and apply Jackson Mulch afterwards. No hurry for the mulch.
- I trim the roots and place the rose into the hole, with support under the base, a little teepee of soil.
- I do not soak the roses before. I do not add fertilizer to the hole.
- I clip the roots a bit to make the rose fit into the hole.
- I scoop crumbling soil in with my bare hands and use upside-down sod on top for stability and decomposition.
- I water each plant slowly and generously. This settles the soil and hydrates the somewhat dried roots.
- Later I add wet newspapers and wood mulch around the new roses.
I finished and waited for the threatening storm to erupt. We had barely enough rain to moisten the driveway, but more is coming tonight.
