Roses...and how I learned not to kill them

Roses are such beautiful flowers and every time I see them at the Garden Center or blooming somewhere I think that I too could have a rose garden. Fate seems to think differently. I have had quite a few rose bushes of all sizes in the past 6 years but each have met with a terrible demise. The most current deaths were on behalf of my then 1 year old lab/hound mix puppy, Willow. She thought that the roses were just sticks stuck in the ground. So she pulled them up and ran around with them. Stopping every once in a while to gnaw on them. By the time I saw what she was doing I had lost 4 roses. I know, I wasn't paying very much attention to her. Normally I was doing something on the other side of the house. And she did this in multiple days.

I also tried miniatures roses, because I gave one to my Mom one Mother's Day and it grows like crazy. It is about to take over. Because of this miniature rose bush I have was given hope. But none of my miniatures wanted to survive let alone grow into the size of a small building. So I had pretty much given up. Then my friend, Jen, gave me a cute red miniature for my birthday last year. I tried keeping it in the pot but it wasn't doing well. Not really a surprise, given my past history. So I just plunked it down in the garden. I expected it to die, but at least it would die in good soil with plenty of sun.

Surprise, surprise it didn't die. But thrived! The interesting thing is I have mostly ignored it and this spring the flowers are at least three times bigger than a normal miniature rose's flowers. The stems are strong and the leaves are big, green and healthy. I couldn't be happier.

My other rose that I decided to try, was one I bought on clearance from Walmart. I think it was priced at $3. I am a sucker for plants, so I bought it not expecting too much. It is a white miniature rambler, and when I got it didn't look much like a rambler, more like a dead stick with some leaves. I popped it into the ground where it got decent sun, mostly afternoon rays, and kept it watered during our Kentucky drought. I had purchased it in the fall, so I didn't really know if it would survive until the next spring. It did, but only really grew one really long stem. It produced some roses a couple of times in the summer, but nothing like my mom's. But it was surviving and from the looks of it, it was going to thrive.

So this year, I happily waited to see if the stem would get longer or if I would get other long stems. It turns out it decided to fluff up and produce a bunch of new stems, leaves and now a mass of miniature white roses. They are just getting ready to bust open. When they do I will be sure to post pictures. It is going to be a beautiful sight.

Because of the lessons I have learned caring for these two almost dead roses I have decided the best way for me to care for roses is to ignore them. When I try to keep them trimmed and in the perfect place I only kill them. Maybe I can't grow the really beautiful tea roses, but I am enjoying my miniatures. And because of the success of my miniature and rambler I purchased two climbing roses. These really have me excited!