Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Planting Roses in the Cleared Section of the Rose Field

When you last saw the Rose Field, I had cleared the weeds from one of the reworked planting areas.  (To see the post where I showed you this part of the story, click HERE)  A week and a half ago, a few days before our recent blizzard, I had a day of favorable weather and time in my schedule.  I used that day to finish the cleared area and to get some roses planted in there.

The roses in question are all once-bloomers, all of which have been kept in small pots for WAY too long.  I only have positive IDs on three of them, having bought them from nurseries as named varieties ... they are:  'Malton', 'Capitaine Basroger', and 'Crimson Globe'.  (Highlighted rose names in this post are links to more information about that rose on its Help Me Find page.)

'Malton', as photographed in Hollywood Cemetery.


Seven of the roses are Found Roses, unknown varieties that I either bought or raised from cuttings.  

"Warrenton Shailer's Provence" (from cuttings taken in a cemetery in Warrenton, Virginia)
"Maureen's Rose" (from cuttings given to me by a nursery customer.  It's probably a form of 'Banshee')
"Teresa's Rose" (another rose grown from cuttings given to me by a former nursery customer)
"Nathalie's High Hills" (Hybrid China)
"Dr. Peck's 12th Avenue Smoothie" (Hybrid China, from the historic Sacramento City Cemetery)
"Millbrook Gallica" (discovered at a historic estate in Virginia)
"Jeanette's Striped Rose" (grown from cuttings given to me by a friend)

That bud is so typical of 'Banshee'






The remaining three roses are ones that had identities at one time, but each of them now has a faded tag or no tag at all.  I have kept them separate from the rest of my potted roses, so I can watch them and try to do what I can to figure out what they are.  (I have photos of two of the three.)





The prep and planting process was very straight forward.  It didn't take long to lay landscape fabric on the cleared 11-foot by 28-foot area and secure it with ground staples. 



Next, I laid out the roses ... hoping like crazy that six-foot centers is enough space for each of them. I'm a bit nervous about what the unknown ones are going to do as they grow.  



I used the rim of a large pot as a template for the holes in the landscape fabric ...



... dug holes, then planted the roses.  Right now, it looks like a weird garden of sticks spaced WAY too far apart.  



These roses are very cold-hardy, and they should be perfectly fine being planted in January.  They're better in the ground like this than if they were still living in their pots.  For now, they will continue to sleep for the rest of the winter ... and I look forward watching them, now that they can finally spread their roots and grow into mature plants.

(This is the first of a series of posts to tie up some loose ends, finish a story or two, and catch everyone up on the stuff that's been going on this winter.)

19 comments:

  1. I envy you for the space in your garden, I bought 6 new roses but my eyes are bigger than my garden. I have been pondering around the garden many times before I found the right(?) spot.

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    1. Having this much space is a blessing and a curse. With so much area available for gardening, it's difficult to keep things to a reasonable size. Even the smallest garden here is probably the size of an average home's ENTIRE garden space. Bigger is better, that's how I do things! :)

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  2. This rose plot is probably larger than my backyard, not counting the pool. Good luck with the roses!

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    1. The entire rose field is about 80' x 150' ... about the size of the entire lot that our first house was on. Small things get lost in a large open property like this, so I try to lean toward making things bigger than I think they should be. Most of the time, the scale ends up being perfect.

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  3. Dear Connie ~ I love seeing the progress of this new bed and you are going to have some real beauties growing there. I love 'Teresa's Rose'.

    I also love my two roses from you. The one is so dainty, Cemetery Musk, with a delicate scent, and Ruth's Wavy Leafed white rose, what a wonderful scent. I've been enjoying blooms and there are more buds on it now. They are starting to take off from being babies.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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    1. I love that rose, too! I especially love it because it has been in Teresa's family and she wanted me to have a piece of it. That piece now grows in MY garden, continuing its history. That's what these roses are, after all ... history.

      It's great to hear that the roses that I sent to you are doing well! I especially love hearing that there are flowers on them, in January, when the roses here are naked and asleep.

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  4. Happy Roses! Are the covered with snow now? They are all beautiful, of course I say that about all roses, they are beautiful! Craving some rose blooms right now, is it Spring yet?

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    1. These little guys were completely submerged in the snow a few days after I planted them. The snow is gone now, replaced by SO much mud everywhere.

      Come spring, you'll have to see if you have room for a rose or two. I have a few in the basement that you may like.

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  5. Tell me Connie... How do you control the weeds that grow up in the center of the rose bush?! Do you just hand weed it and if so any tricks to avoid getting shish kabobed?? lol Several years ago i had monster rose bushes when we lived in TX ... they were huge and sent out long arms covered in small roses... and that was my biggest problem with them... all the grass and weeds would grow out in the center and with those long arms they were difficult if not impossible to get to to pull out... Hugs! deb

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    1. Deb, darling, my gut reaction to your question is, “I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.” Truthfully, there’s only so much one can do against weeds wherever they grow. I do what I can to pull them when I see them … wearing good leather gloves and long sleeves, even when it’s hot outside in summer. Doing it when the soil is softer (like after a good rain) helps, too. Twice a year, I try to remember to put down preemergent herbicide (like Preen) to help control weeds that sprout under the roses. I’m learning more and more as years go by, about how to garden on such a large scale in this old farm soil. It’s never going to be perfect, but that’s okay.

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  6. Hello Connie! I love reading your blog, and especially seeing the awesome pics of your beautiful farm!! I've loved gardening most of my life; my home was surrounded literally by flower gardens. We recently moved to a new home we built on a farm--actually it's a new-old home built to look like an old white 2 story farmhouse with a dark blue tin roof! Although I'm happy as a lark here, I'm mourning the loss of my gardens that took me basically 35 years to build. I'm trying to look at it as a brand new, blank slate.... "sigh" I've dug hundreds of bulbs, small dogwood trees, perennials, etc. etc. to bring along to our new home. You mentioned growing roses from cuttings. What is the best technique to do this? Does it work with all varieties? What time of year is best? I've actually earned my "Master Gardener" but have never tried growing roses from cuttings. Had a patient once who used to grow roses from the cut roses she was sent from the florist!! She would tell me "all ya gotta do is stick 'em in the ground!!" ?? Thanks for your expert advice and input!--- Sandy

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    1. Hi, Sandy! I was first taught to propagate roses from cuttings by a friend. It's been one of the best things that I ever learned! I documented the process in a blog post, to help others learn to do it, too. http://hartwoodroses.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-root-roses-from-cuttings.html. You didn't say where you are, so I can't pinpoint the best time to do this in your area. Here, it's right after spring flush of bloom is finishing or in September and early October as the weather is cooling, but before hard freeze sends the roses into dormancy.

      I know the excitement of a blank slate garden ... that's what we started with here. The feeling of loss of your former garden should soon be replaced with excitement as spring comes, your transplanted bulbs flower, and you spend your time making a new garden.

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  7. Wow, you do have a lot of space!
    The first floor of my HOUSE is only 15' x 31'.
    LOL!
    But thank god my yard is bigger!
    I'm so envious though, that you got so much done already.
    I'm chomping at the bit for Spring!
    xoxo

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    1. Just a tick under nine acres. The rose gardens wind through the property in borders and free-standing beds, from the front yard all the way back to the barn ... wherever the mood strikes, I put in a rose garden. I think I'm finished with installing new gardens, as I have very few roses left in pots to plant. Now, I turn my attention to correcting the mistakes that I made when I designed some of the early gardens, like the poor prep and weedy tendencies of the Rose Field. This will give me more space for more roses ... is it spring yet?

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  8. I love the photos of roses, even the sticks!!

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    1. I think that it's miraculous that these sticks will grow up into rose plants that should be taller than I am! Now that they can spread their roots into the ground, it should happen pretty quickly. In my experience, most roses don't really like living in pots permanently. Roses just gotta be free, I guess.

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  9. Love your posts! You are inspiring. I'm wondering - how do you keep the deer off of your roses?

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    1. Deer here are not a huge problem, and I don't get as much damage as I have seen in other gardens. I have too many roses to protect, so I am resigned to sharing with the deer. Fortunately, they tend to snack on a few leaves and/or buds and move on. Our deer are wild and wary, unlike many of the semi-tame suburban deer that many other people have. I have only once seen a deer near the house ... it was a young buck that I figure didn't know better. Even my hostas near the house are untouched. I get most of my deer damage back by the barn, as the deer wander through to get a drink in the neighbor's pond. For this reason, I keep things that need protecting near the house.

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  10. Teresa's Rose is my favorite...love that rather disheveled, devil may care look about it.

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