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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.)