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| Heirloom - my third Heirloom rose on clearance sale. I paid $10 net for each one. $39 for each one retail - at this moment. "A rose that predates our nursery and is still going strong due to its color and sweet rose fragrance. Bred by William Warriner who was one of the world's top rose breeders. Semi-double, 4-5" blooms (petals 20-25) of deep lilac-purple on a vigorous, repeat blooming, upright plant." |
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| Julia Childs - Mrs. Ichabod said, "I am thinking of eggs." That was her yolk of the day. |
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| Easy To Please |
They doubled on Easy To Please, and I have had people wish for more purple roses.
So how do I proceed?
I logged the new titles into the graphics folder for roses. When so many kinds arrive the same year, remembering them all is tricky.
I dropped them into a barrel of pure rainwater. I already set up a stored water barrel, but then it rained. So these went into the rainwater. I do not mind immersing them overnight. Tomorrow I will make sure branches are above water, which I do with paint buckets.
I have learned to place favored plants where I can see them all the time, and not far away. So I either find an open spot closer to the driveway - or - I plant them in the backyard, but not along the Gardner's fence.
Collars are good for protecting the young roses from foot traffic. I also need wood mulch and Peat Humus.
I plant them by pruning branches and roots a bit, to promote growth. Ideally, each one will have Peat Humus on top, covered by shredded wood mulch.
We have a week of rain predicted. But if that does not happen, I will water the new roses and also dampen the canes. The rose guy at one outfit yelled at me for not covering the new roses with paper bags and keeping them moist in the heat and winds of Phoenix. I was supervising a new rose garden and learned a lot during that one-sided conversation. They replaced the roses that did not leaf out, and then the first ones did leaf out. Roses can be slow when stressed.
The difference between early spring and now is stark. Cool weather and lots of rain will always favor roses. If it is baking hot, dry, and windy, extra doting on each new one is required -daily. Besides, it is great fun to coddle roses and see them grow stupendously and bloom graciously.
If a new rose is not leafing out, I prune bits off to spur growth. In the early spring, those tips may be frost-bit, as they were this year.
Roses can sit in rainwater and develop green leaves, if the branches are out of water. I have seen that happen, which was followed by rapid growth.
Rainwater is free and perfectly designed by the Creator to encourage natural (creational) growth.
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| One new Veterans Honor rose bush seemed especially week this year, so I kept dousing it with rainwater. Now it has a petite stem and perfect rose. |
