Topaz Jewel. It was very pretty, and my husband did not think it was worth saving when the city came through to clean up the green belt (flood control) behind our house. Now I cannot find it to replace it. I don't know why there are no vendors that sell it, but maybe they will some day. There are not many rugosas that will grow here, and as a yellow, it may not be as pretty as some other yellows, but I did enjoy having a rugosa.

I make decisions, move on, and do not often look back or wonder about regrets. My other roses either needed to be sprayed or were too difficult to care for without a ladder. Moving on, it is only Topaz Jewel.

Sammy

well, all of my shovel pruned roses have remained in the vicinity of my house :) Although, I think I've only shovel pruned about 5 roses, but countless other perrenials. What I do is just dig them up and move them to the empty lot behind my house. I kind of feel like I'm giving them a second chance that way..lol. Once in awhile, I go over there and see whats stil living. So far about half of what's ended up over there seems to be surviving on its own!
~Tammy

I expelled Maggie way too soon before I even had her 6 months. I didn't understand the nature of Bourbons back then. Rosette Delizy and Monsieur Tillier were shoveled due to sickliness, but Alexander Gray Hill and Mme Lombard took their places so I'm OK with them as replacements. So I guess Maggie is the only one I would realistically be able to take back, because her replacement isn't so hot either.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I've never regretted the loss of any of the ones I dug up. There are a few I've lost over the years that I miss but I doubt I'll replace them because they mostly died over the winter so weren't very hardy. Both Honor and Full Sail had some gorgeous blooms...when they didn't ball. Pink Peace was pretty. But there is one I might consider replacing because the blooms were just gorgeous, Just Joey. I bought it as a baggie rose and it was never a very good plant so I might try one from a better source.

Like Seil, I don't regret a single one of them.

No rose was removed here unless it proved conclusively that it wasn't a good rose for this garden.

Closest I can come would be the Ferdinand Pichard that finally expired, having been buried by a larger rose. That was a lovely plant, and had I the space and available water, I'd replace it.

Jeri

1. GERTRUDE JEKYLL - I really miss Ger's wonderful rosy/lychee fragrance. I had threw away 2 of this rose in past due to strange patterns on the leaves. I got to to themed to them so I'm hoping to order this rose again.

2. La ville de bruxelles - I accidentally threw this rose away because at that time, depression got into me during the winter months and I felt like getting rid of all my roses.
I realised that I do love once blooming roses. They were bred years and years ago so they all have those amazing stories behind them. My aim is to collect and preserve only the ones that I think are 'beautiful' before they become extinct or before the nursery people stop selling them. I really want to add: Constance Spry, Charles de Mill and Belle de Crazy to my wish list.

Although I miss Sharifa Asma's wonderful scent. The bush alone is not pretty. The leaves always look wrinkly with strange patterns and the blooms always looked too formal they remind me like decorations on a christmas tree.

None, nada, nary a one. Each was given years, water, food, soil and care. Some were moved from container to ground or vice versa. Some were moved from one spot to another, looking for the perfect mix of shade and sun.

Nature has taken many more than the shovel and my only regret is the waste of money and effort spent trying to coax a donkey or a diva to perform.

My only regret is shoveling Astrid Lindgren because the colour didn't fit in among the OGR's nearby. It's a good rose so I should have moved it instead. I am usually not so hasty. Like moroseaz I usually coax roses far too long, never less than four years. I kept Ruskin for six years before giving up. Now I regret that I didn't give it away as it is a fairly uncommon rugosa.

What Jeri said got me to thinking. There have been a couple of roses that did NOT prove conclusively that they were not good roses for this garden. The key word is conclusively. Their death knell was from winter kill. Of these two I miss Tuscan Sun the most. I had it own root. Maybe if it had been grafted it would have survived better. Something I didn't try. Maybe one day I will revisit it. Anyway, good thoughtful question....Maryl

only one - I think I got rid of a whole heap of roses, all at once - things like Queen Elizabeth, Blue Moon (shudder). None missed....apart from a little Harkness rose called Many Happy Returns. Mainly gone because it was in a bed with a few others and I somehow failed to notice or appreciate its unbelievable fast rebloom, fantastic healthy foliage and neat little shape, lovely stamens (yep, I was a philistine). May have to re-order one.

I miss Teasing Georgia but it's happy up at the place it went, growing like it was meant to, not in a veggie patch. The roses I have shovel pruned I don't miss one bit.

I greatly rue the day I tossed Louis XIV. I think I woke up grumpy that day and aggravated with the endless clouds and rain. Poor Louis took it on his blackspotted chin and is at the bottom of my compost pile, somewhere.

When I lived in Fl I got rid of a lot of roses for "newer, better" roses. I'm backtracking a little now that I have retired. I already have put Peace and Chicago Peace back into my garden. This summer I will probably put Double Delight (it had mildew problems) and the big beautiful pink HT Friendship. Still don't know why I dug it up. Also the HT Whisky Mac.

I had Austin's Janet in the wrong place and stupidly shovel pruned it instead of moving it. I regret it very much because it was a lovely rose. I also think I should have given Harlow Carr a better chance to get acclimated. The blooms didn't like my heat at all, but since it's such a lovely rose I should have given it another year. Ditto for Angel's Camp Tea. I've shovel pruned or given away many others, but after looking over the list these are the only ones I regret, Janet most of all.

Ingrid

None! Not every rose is meant for every garden.

There are quite a few roses I miss after shoveling, but I don't regret shoveling them. I give them a chance (sometimes many chances) to do well in the conditions I have to offer (not enough sun and I don't spray) but when bare empty ground looks better than a struggling sickly defoliated rose, I know it's time for it to go!

The roses I miss most are Gertrude Jekyll and Madame Isaac Perreire who were both horrid in my previous garden, but being the eternal optimist (or masochist, LOL) I will probably try them again in my new garden which has more sun (yay!!)

A couple I've second-guessed shovel pruning were Molineux and Lady Hillingdon. They were both beautiful healthy floriferous roses here but I don't love yellow roses/my space was so limited/I wanted to try other things, so I dug them up one day. (I used to be able to pass along great roses that just didn't "ring my chimes" but once I found midge in the garden, I realized I had to throw them away rather than risk spreading midge.)

Every time I go next door to my neighbor's I regret ripping out Mardi Gras and giving it to them. I'm glad I still get to visit it, though.

My most famous regrets involve my attempt to color-coordinate my garden by ripping out all blues and purples. After one year I ended up buying all the same irises I had just given away. Doh!!

Quite a few roses I have let go of over the years due to my limited garden space and desire to try some different varieties. Most I do not miss, because they had so-so blooms, high disease susceptibility, or ugly troublesome growth habits. But a few I miss and hope to get again once I have proper space. Some I left behind when I moved from my garden in Mobile to a much smaller space in New Orleans.
Bride's Dream
Veterens Honor
Peace
Honor
Royal Sunset (climber)
Touch of Class
Cary Grant
Elizabeth Taylor
Ain't She Sweet
Pristine
Secret

I've sp'd a lot of roses the last 3 years and I can't think of one I don't miss. With the exception of the five that had RRD, they all grew well and bloomed in the spring. I just couldn't keep them looking healthy the rest of the year.

So sorry to hear that, harry. Fortunately, I know your shrub roses are beautiful. I've lost several to RRD the past couple years also.

Kate

I've sp'd a lot of roses the last 3 years and I can't think of one I don't miss.

:^( Ouch!

Harry, what did you replace your roses with? I remember your talking about substituting some viburnums (?) and other things for the roses you took out. Please post some pics when you have time or inclination. Your beer can in the garden pic is a classic!

Once I make a decision, I do not like to think about any sacrifice I have made. However, when I sprayed, I grew: Mr. Lincoln, Veteran's Honor, Christian Dior, Europeana, Olympiad, and another red I cannot remember now.

I had a white circle in the middle of my front yard with Prairie Star, and many flowers inside the circle. Then in front of the house, I had Europeanas and Olympiads. Possibly I had about 7 reds together after a circle of about 10 Prairie Stars.

I liked that effect, and now that I do not spray, there are not large roses that have that drama.

I do not want to spray, and I want to grow roses, so I learned to dismiss those roses that needed special care, and learn to really love the older roses that had a different (but safer) drama.

I miss the old, but love the new. When I see the words, Veteran's Honor, I have fond memories, but now I think of Cramoisi Superieur, Ducher, and my very special SDLM's -- about 9 or 10 of them.

I also miss those days when the children were at home, but appreciate their lives now, and have moved on to a different type of lifestyle.

I guess this is TMI, but we can always appreciate what we don't have.

This is a nice thread for us to dream about what we had, and think about what we now have.

Sammy

Not exactly the answer to the question you asked, but...

I miss my three Graceland roses that finally pooped out after 20 years. Happy, healthy, blooming beauties they were. My pretty, always-clean Roundelay ran out of steam too.

I also miss some that rusted badly here, but can be lovely in other climates -- Playboy, Dainty Bess, Paris, Crystalline.

Sammy I just wanted to say I loved your post. I am trying to embrace that wisdom of letting go, moving on and not looking back with regret. It's a perpetual struggle-in the garden, as in life. It's gotten somewhat easier as I've gotten older (I've gotten more practice) but it's still tough. Thanks for the inspiration.

I join two others above in mentioning 'Gertrude Jekyll.' I miss those magnificent flowers every year. However, I don't regret killing the disease-ridden, unruly, viciously thorny plant!

This thread must be getting to me. I got to thinking about the lovely floribunda Easter Basket that got RRD and I had to spade it a couple years ago. Decided I missed that rose so much that I just added it to an order I have coming this spring.

It has frilly blooms of a whitish/light pink blush/pale lemon yellow blend--and good disease-resistance. No doubt about it--I need one again.

Kate

Some died that I wish hadn't--Surpasse Tout, Madame Charles Baltet, Charles Lefebvre--but there are far more I wish I could summon up the resolve to eliminate--Scipion Cochet, La Sylphide, Pink Parfait among them. I feel so guilty tossing something I paid for.

None. I almost never shovel prune roses, can't stand killing them, so I have to really loathe a rose to destroy it. Plants that are doing consistently badly I move to a remote area. Or if the plant is seasonally ugly, during its bad period I look the other way as I pass.

Melissa, I'm completely with you. Haven't shovel pruned or lost a single rose (yet, on the latter...). Have also moved the ones that I didn't like or weren't doing well, and so far the ones moved are happier in their "next" place.

Now, I also live in a climate that doesn't torture me with horrible BS or PM. If I did, my philosophy would probably be quite different.