Roses

I am making great progress through my horticultural guide to the area and I have been taken in the last few days by the section on roses. Now roses have never been my favorite plant, although I know they are one of Pete's. And in this climate, traditional roses (the hybrid teacups) can only survive if you SERIOUSLY baby them, and I mean seriously. Example: to overwinter them you have to prune down the plant, dig it up and bare root it, wrap the roots in peat moss that is watered daily to be kept moist, and keep the whole thing in a box of styrofoam peanuts in the garage for 6 months checking the temperature each day to make sure it stays below freezing but not too far below freezing. Any deviation results in dead plants. Ummm no thank you.

However, while the hybrid teas are possible to grow here but largely impractical, the older varietals of roses DO survive here. Some are even native. These are the old garden shrub roses, a few are ramblers, with the pretty double petals. Before 'roses' were turned into what you now get on long stems they were these lovely bushes. And THAT is exactly what I want on my SW corner of the house. A couple nice shrub roses to provide blooms and fragrance in the summer and rosehips in the winter. Yes they will be a lot of work to overwinter and prune and everything else. But they're going next to my beloved blueberry bushes which will take plenty more babying than any roses might, so why not! I also want to try some of the hardy ramblers along the back fence to brighten it up a little from the grey overgrown grass that lives there now.

I figure 2 - 3 shrub roses on the corner garden fronted with a nice display of annuals every year will be a beautiful addition. Now I just have to make my decisions about which ones to pick up. They've got to go in within the next few weeks so they are well settled before winter or I'll lose them. Suggestions on color or varietal welcomed! (We're hardiness zone 4, so anything you suggest has to be hardy to 4 or below.) This is SO much fun!