Dear Wannabe Philosopher,

In your spare time, read up on Chili Thrips and Rose Rosette Disease and then feel very, very worried. You won't need a shirt or shovel with targets on them; nature already knows.

Josh, I can gaze upon any number of modern roses that leave my heart unmoved which nevertheless many people find desirable and beautiful. Your heart just marches to the beat of a different drummer. In gardening, you have no one to listen to except your heart.

Ingrid

Hi Josh: I have the same problem with Bayes Blueberry, 100% healthy, blooms non-stop, except I'm allergic to its open stamens. I sniffed its intense wild-rose scent, and had the worst hayfever today, running nose, felt like hot pepper up my sinus. I consider replacing it with the button-eyed bloom, like my Mary Magdalene (very little pollens).

Guys are different than gals. My husband likes to go fishing since it's challenging. I see no point of waiting 1 hour to catch a fish, then throwing into the water. Guys are genetically geared to hunt, overcome obstacles, solve problem, and achieve the impossible. I admire them for embracing challenges and conquer mountains. That's the fun in life for guys ... we all have different paths to fun in the garden.

My fun is to experiment and to find the cause behind each situation.

Strawberry, you probably got a nose full of thrips. Most who sneeze at such sniffs do so because of bugs, not pollen.

Josh, there are roses (and other plants) which are just "boring". Thank God for those! Jack Harkness, in his great book, "Roses", described Pink Favorite as one. Every bud took and resulted in a Grade 1 plant. It required nothing of him to produce great garden and nursery specimen. After nursing hundreds of "miffy" varieties and plants, I cherish each and every one of this 'boring' plants. They are what I strive to raise as seedlings. They are the stuff, of which, tomorrow's gardens will be made. They require nothing of us as long as they are situated properly, planted and cared for appropriately and they continue doing their thing without us. Had the past three-quarters of a century of rose breeding focused on this kind of result, the rose industry would be in significantly better shape and roses would still be planted in much greater numbers than they are. Kim

Hi Kim: I check for thrips before I sniff. Thrips are no longer a problem now, since we are in dry and hot phase. My nose acts up like that when I walk pass by a ragweed, or visiting someone with a dog or cat. My hayfever is so bad that I spent $$$ for shots, didn't work.

Hi Josh: I used to grow Peace, very boring like a daylily. You asked earlier about Comte de Chambord. It's an exciting scent, worth growing. Last year I put Comte in a pot, at full sun, 100 degrees, it refused to bloom. This year I planted in partial shade, except the bunnies ate my 2nd flush. Comte de Chambord as own-root in zone 5a is very short ... I will move it to a raised bed.

I don't have allergy problems sniffing Comte de Chambord, or roses with hidden stamens. Comte's scent is pure heaven. Modern roses can be too perfumy-reeky like Firefighter, but Old Garden Roses? I never get sick of sticking my nose into. For one bloom of Comte, it's an exciting scent ... a brief glimpse of paradise. Yves Piaget's children are just as good, except the stamens open too quickly, so I can only enjoy half-opened.

Be grateful it's healthy and happy and leaves you time to work on the ones that aren't!

Roses that are easy earn a special place in my heart. Maybe it's just part of growing older. I must admit that i simply love them all, easy and difficult for what they are.

I can love a rose for its history, even if it's not altogether my cup of tea. I'd grow Peace that way, if it WERE easy to grow here. It's not. We grew it years ago and it rusted badly. Mildewed some. And that was when we sprayed!

Now, I have Paul Bocuse -- a vigorous plant with disease-free foliage, and good bloom production. It's just a fleshy sort of pink that I don't care for, and it has no particular history to recommend it but I can't bring myself to rip it out.

Jeri

It's not so much that I desire a challenge but that I'm hopelessly attracted to the helpless beings that need my nurturing to survive.

Di

I saw a thread posted by Josh in the Roses Forum regarding Peace's problem of every single flower malformed. Possible causes could be: slugs or snails which deprive the plant of calcium for proper bloom-formation. If it's grafted, possibly a bad bud-union.

Below is link to the thread I wrote on role of calcium in bloom-formation in the English Roses Forum. Peace is the parent of French Meilland roses and Romanticas, which have a higher need for calcium.

Here is a link that might be useful: Calcium for Balling and Botrytis

I'm with Josh (and Camus). When they're easy, I don't respect them. For years and years, I had a 'Mon Cheri' in my garden. It grew nice long stems with big, bright, fragrant flowers at the tips, and grew lots of them, and I hated it. I hated its garishness, I hated its gigantism, I hated its coarsely sweet scent, like cheap perfume. I hated its graceless sturdy productive bush. I hated the fact that, when I would fiendishly prune it way way back, it would come back with unwelcome generosity of spirit. Unfortunately, once upon a time, my brother had said that he liked it, and he is not one to make remarks about flowers; so I kept it. For about a quarter of a century. Then one day a few months ago, it was covered with grating garishness, and meantime a 'Briarcliff' needed a home. With that certain grim inexorability which is a special superpower that gardeners, farmers, and stock-raisers have, I killed that plant. Just to see it die. Well, that, and to give 'Briarcliff' a home. The world--insofar as my garden be the world--is a better place. And my brother, who walks by the spot frequently, has not noticed any change.

And now I am going to irk a number of people, and mention the beloved 'Iceberg' vis-à-vis the purport of this thread. Every time I see an 'Iceberg', so easy to grow, so popular, I say to myself, "That rose is taking the place of something worthier just because it is easy." My eyes narrow to slits, and I frown. "We have much work to do," I say, grimly.

"Every time I see an 'Iceberg', so easy to grow, so popular, I say to myself, "That rose is taking the place of something worthier just because it is easy." My eyes narrow to slits, and I frown. "We have much work to do," I say, grimly."

Perhaps, but the reality is, if it wasn't an Iceberg planted there, it would most often NOT be any other rose. There isn't another rose as willing, as generous, as eager, as easy to propagate, grow and perform as Iceberg for the average SoCal climate. There is definitely not another rose as "torture friendly". If there had been, believe me, Iceberg would have had competition. As it is, the only real competition is from its color sports. Each time I see one I thank Heaven it is NOT an escalonia, euonymous, xylosma, privet, juniper or any of the other obligatory, green "blobs" crammed in to ill prepared holes in unsuitable places by landscrapers and "gardeners" alike. Kim

odinthor, when you use words like "gratingly garish" and "coarsely sweet scent", I suspect you disliked the rose for more than the fact that it was easy. Having eyeballed it on help me find, I wholeheartedly concur. Arghh! And you suffered for a quarter of a century? I would have suffered for a quarter of an hour........

Ingrid

"Perhaps, but the reality is, if it wasn't an Iceberg planted there, it would most often NOT be any other rose."

So much the better. Horticulture has a lot to offer.

I have the same problem with Pink Pet. Take ANY cutting off the bush, stick it in the ground. Walk away and forget about it. Three years later you have a 3'x3' bush covered with pink pom pom blooms. I root up about a dozen every year and give them away. Because it's so easy, I call it the perfect starter rose for folks that say roses are to hard.

I second Melissa on this!

As one who believes planting privet should be a capital offense (okay, my opinions tend to be outliers), I can see Kim's point of view. Thanks to Iceberg, the trendy-pricey faux-Craftsman houses in the new development adjacent to our funky old 70s neighborhood have roses in the front yard and not juniper and Indian hawthorne. Albeit, just one variety of rose, Iceberg, but roses : ) Pruned with hedge-trimmers but, still, not bad-looking roses, if a little "vanilla".

On the other hand, I have a clutch of worthy but less popular (maybe not so easy) young roses that, because of the demise of Vintage, I'm inclined to give extra preference to, especially the ones now no longer in commerce. So, I'm probably going to end up removing a few otherwise well-behaved plants that thrill my heart less than others, to make room. There are a few that, like Odinthor, I think I can probably work up enough steam and resentment to push me into doing the final act -- I hope.

I agree, too, with what Melissa says, that there is a complex calculus involved with assessing how worthy a particular rose is to you, in which "ease of growth" is just one factor, but a good one, if present.

I ran into michaelg's great "Marie Pavie Speaks" thread again recently. There's a variety that seems to drive a lot of people crazy, but is still well-loved. (link below)

Here is a link that might be useful: Marie Pavie speaks

Nope, not "a guy thing". It's an appreciation thing. I appreciate anything which is happy to be where I am. I've done the caring for aging, ailing parent; aging ailing pets; miffy, ailing plant varieties and I'm pretty much done being the "care provider". If you enjoy being tied to providing care, you'll love those types. Yes, I do love novelty and beauty, but I'm simply not willing to pay the price of HAVING to provide the extra care necessary for things not happy to be where I am and live with the level of care and attention (plus the budgeted costs of resources) I choose to provide. It is choice. Choice to appreciate ease and thrift. Choice to appreciate plants which would probably exist without us. I think if I am remembered for any plant creation, I would like for it to be one which is as easy and prolific as an Iceberg. It honestly is one of the best white roses ever released and probably one of, if not the best floribunda around. Whether it's ubiquitous or not, it's a danged good ROSE. It does what it is supposed to without having to be coddled. That's pretty perfect in my book. Kim

I planted MORE Icebergs last week. Some own root cuttings that I got tired of babying and 2 5g's.

Right smack in the front yard no less! And directly across from a pair of standards of them. I might have to go buy one more if my cuttings don't take off.

Why?

Cause I have tried a lot of other plants in that location. Pretty much nothing does well other than the camillia (green blob 11 months of the year), moms big birds nest fern from the home of an old friend and some kind of lily that is turning out to be quite invasive. It is on the north side of the house, regularly shaded by the house and under a massive jacaranda tree. With soil made up of decades of hard packed clay and jacaranda leaf litter. Three years of babying hydrangeas at they are little more than green leaves on the mulch. Cala lilies refuse to do much there either-and they are a weed.

But the standards moved a few months back, have never looked so good, or bloomed so well since I moved them to this horrid location. Sure they get some mildew, but they don't seem to care, they shake it off and keep right on going. Even the high winds which made them lean did not bother them (found some conduit to fix that problem be decided to paint before installing)

And best of all, since Iceberg seems to be the pollen parent of many seedlings, I figure some of those hips on the other roses might end up being interesting with no work on my part.

Marie Pavie and the rest of the roses get the good end of the front yard. One more Iceberg standard there too

Bingo! Kim

I'm the opposite, Josh. Maybe because I'm lazy or, like Kim, I have enough people and pets to take care of, but I do not like a difficult rose. In fact, I have come to love roses that I initially did not like because they are so easy in my garden. I love you, stiff, awkward Mr. Lincoln! I love you, scentless, gawky Queen Elizabeth! I love you, Just Joey with your oversized, brash blooms!

Thank goodness there are roses that are more to my taste and easy. I have only just planted them but I call them my "brunhildas" because I planted them, watered them and bam! They are Grandmother's Hat, Old Town Novato, Pleasant Hill Cemetary, Elisabeth's China and Perle D'Or. I have some others waiting to be planted including some Hypbrid Musks that are shaping up to be the same way.

As far as that ubiquitous white floribunda goes, I have to pipe in. I love Iceberg. A row of Iceberg in full bloom is one of the most beautiful garden sights, to me. Like a favorite painting, I can gaze at Iceberg over and over again, and not get tired of the sight. Viva la Iceberg! :-)

Anne

All of this mention of Junipers has reminded me of something which, as I pondered it, I realized is very much to the point here. I’m afraid that it’s a story which takes more than a sentence or two, so please sit down, pour yourself a cup of tea, take freely of that nice date-toffee cake I have over there on the counter, and bear with me for a moment.

I’m sure that we all cast a glance or two at the landscaping of houses we pass in our regular comings and goings. One never knows what new plants one might see, or what ideas might be suggested or demonstrated, be they good, be they bad. About fifteen years ago, maybe a little more, I noticed a lot of activity in the front yard of a house on a street a block or two away from my place. They were removing the front lawn as well as the lawn in the parkway (the strip between the sidewalk and the road), and were replacing it with plugs, planted rather distantly from each other, of some grayish ground cover which I couldn’t quite make out as I drove past.

A year or so passed, and it came to be that my dog Homer entered my life, whose dogly virtues merited more space than I can give him in this passing mention in our story; and thus it was that I embarked on daily dog-walks through the neighborhood, examining the yards I passed with more interest than their owners might have anticipated. The planting referred to above I found to be comprised of a prostrate Juniper. I am unfortunately not as familiar with the ins and outs of the Juniperverse to enable me to i.d. the species or variety; but it was a glaucous sea-green prostrate sort, absolutely ground-hugging, not attaining more than, at most, three or four inches in height. They were spaced so widely doubtless as a money-saving strategy; but I despaired that they would ever manage to do what the owner clearly envisioned, grow together to form a Juniper “lawn.”

Day succeeded day, week succeeded week, month month, year year. Time which drags so slowly in youth accelerates uncomfortably in age. The household in question clearly fell on hard times. The house was becoming untidy, the paint was peeling, the cars uncared for. At length, there was only one car, and at length it appeared that there was a sole resident, a widow. It seemed that there must have been a collection of Cymbidiums in the back yard, as every now and then, she would put out in front a clearly home-grown blooming Cymbidium with a price tag on it, which kind of broke my heart. Through all of this, the Juniper lawn grew, though at a glacial pace. The patches of bare ground were fewer and fewer, and shrinking. The yard, better cared for than the house, began to resemble an Oriental-inspired pond (the glaucous sea-green “lawn”) beside an island of Camellias and a holly tree, a place of repose and contemplation. Finally, the Junipers had, except for one or two little spots, grown together, and the original plan had come to fruition. I was happy for the planner, who I believe was the deceased husband.

Another year passed, and a For Sale sign went up. The house was sold. The new owners had some rather aggressive hounds such that I’d take the now aged Homer--a Chihuahua mix--in my arms as we passed. Still, I enjoyed walking past this little glade which had matured under my eye. Homer seemed to enjoy sniffing the Junipers. I had a notion that they served as a sort of “sinus inhaler” for him.

Then Homer died, and so I had no occasion to stroll past the yard, though I would happen to drive past it with some frequency as I went about my errands. One day, to my horror, I saw a crew digging up the Junipers from the lawn area and parkway. The next day, lawn area and parkway were planted with dozens of--‘Iceberg’ roses. I can only imagine that the owners saw on some vast corporate acreage a huge landscape planting of ‘Iceberg’, were enchanted with the look, and decided to attempt to replicate it at home; but a lawn and parkway of ‘Iceberg’ roses simply looks grotesque. The holly and Camellias, and indeed the house itself, are as if besieged.

The owners who removed the Junipers sold the house about a year later. The new owners seem to have little interest in Horticulture, and so everything is just sort of a tangle.

This is what I think of when Junipers are mentioned in conjunction with ‘Iceberg’ roses.

Loved your story, Odinthor. We have some great writers on here.

Oh my, that is a wonderful story. How I wish I could have enjoyed your toffee coffee cake. As it is, I am enjoying a beer while grilling. I still maintain a row of Icebergs (not a field!) is lovely. I usually don't like juniper but they way you described that yard, of course, sounded lovely.

Anne

There is an upscale housing division in the Santa Clarita Valley, totally out of character with the mid desert, called "Bridgeport at Valencia". They have a Dutch-like windmill, complete with the water wheel and flowing water through their "canals", constantly circulating. The houses are of decent size and very close together, with smallish yards on heavily engineered soil. The "prime" homes are those which back up to the "fingers" of the artificial mosquito lake they've created in the center of the community. The only thing of any real value are the thousands of white Icebergs planted under the sycamore trees used at the community entrances. When needing deadheading, they are all sheared to the same height. Weeks later, they all explode into flower, seeming at once, in to a sea of white which flows, dances in the chronic wind. There ARE mosquitoes like crazy in that artificial swamp, but those seas of Icebergs are gorgeous. Kim

I have to take a photo, but my neighbor has a new sod lawn, bordered by Mexican Sage and Icebergs. It is so pretty.

And that "hedge" is easily trimmed with a hedge trimmer over winter. The rest of the year it is full of hummingbirds.

But I do understand about Icebergs, they are everywhere here, kind of like agapanthus and agaves.

Josh when 'Peace' has some nice flowers just opening, cut them and put them in a vase by your computer. When the flowers fade go out and pick some more. You'll start paying attention to her again because her beauty will be far more apparent when you spend some time with those flowers. Try it!

Interesting replies, I guess I have had to work too hard and spent too much money to accomplish what I have to not admire a rose that does well, in fact the only roses that survive at my house are the ones that flourish with minimal care. The rest either die quickly or fade away over a couple of years. Summer is too short here to not appreciate the easy keepers.

Why not try growing some delicate-flowered,flexible rambler into the 6 foot tall arms of the Peace rose,to spice things up a bit? bart

This is an interesting thread--Odinthor---Your story brought tears to my eyes---the passage of time is very often sad---It would break my heart to see that restful "island of calm "ruined-----

Josh---"Youth" is wonderful ---enjoy it while you can----but from my vantage point of age I personally love ANYTHING that takes care of itself-----I don't have the strength or ability to work on my roses anymore so I LOVE my hardy roses that respond to neglect---
BTW---I never had luck with the Peace rose but my Pink Peace is a survivor----
Keep up the good work---wish I lived closer so I could watch you take care of your tempermental roses

I love all the different responses you received here on ARF
Florence

Many thanks, floridarosez9, annesfbay, zeffyrose_pa6b7. When I pass the house in question, it makes me sad. It always will. The original idea was fanciful and bold, and I respect the deceased creator for undertaking it. I'm glad that I was there to appreciate his triumph for him in it coming--however temporarily!--to fruition.

We need to split some hairs vis-à-vis easy roses and one's reaction to them. For me, it's not that I don't like them and see no value in them; it's--like I said--that I don't respect them (and miss seeing in their place something I do respect). Maybe it will be clearer with an example. I have 'Hermosa' in my garden. It blooms and blooms and blooms and grows and grows and grows. I don't need to do anything but stand around; and actually I don't even need to do that. And so its blooming and growth are not an "event"; it's "Oh, 'Hermosa' is blooming? [yawn] Just like every other day of the year." Now, contrast that with, hmmm, well, let's take the extreme: Contrast that with *R. hemisphaerica*, which blooms for maybe a few weeks in the year, and with which you're a most unusual rosarian if you've indeed even seen one in person in the whole course of your life. It's not easy to obtain, it takes a certain knack or a certain luck to establish it and grow it to blooming maturity, the blossoms supposedly abort frequently (this might be slanderous gossip, as mine never do!), and the season is short. I respect and love such a rose, because having it, seeing it, bonding with its centuries of history, is a rare wonder, a sort of miracle. While the "easies" may do good service and provide their share of beauty to those who have a taste for what they have to offer, they will never inspire that special feeling of "a wondrous miracle has occurred for me!" (unless a person is in a constant state of pixilation about just about everything, which kind of misses the point of "special"). That's what I mean when I say that I don't respect a rose that's too easy or common. It's not that there's anything wrong with it.

Hi:)

I must chime in on Iceberg. Recently, I discovered that I miss the fragrance, sheer beauty, and diversity that OGR's bring to my garden. However, I have an Iceberg growing in a pot, an Iceberg Climber, and for as long as it is available, it will always have a place in my garden. Iceberg is easy, but she is beautiful, and when displaying a flush or planted in mass, can be extremely eye-catching. Iceberg is like the " good child" that does what you want; never giving you much trouble. I will not neglect, or overlook Iceberg because the "problem children", who can deliver rewards too, are requiring so much attention. To my knowledge, there is NO class of rose that has an "exclusive" in the beauty or fragrance category; especially if folks are allowed to be pure as they can with regard to their tastes and follow their own individual preferences. I am "open" to anything of substance that catches my eye, or nose, and will grow in my garden:)

I hear you, Odinthor. And, that makes perfect sense. As I continue to garden with roses, I may find myself enjoying a challenge, as well :-)

Desert, I have five Icebergs. Love them, as well!

Anne

Josh

Ah, yes. It sounds like rose gardening is becoming a metaphysical experience!

I grew up with Peace in my parents' garden, and I, too, began to feel disenchanted with Peace and hybrid teas in general after my conversion to OGRs, Austins, and various OGR/species crosses. I have gradually returned to HTs, but only after discovering and following the historical journey which produced such roses. I revisited hybrid teas after voraciously reading piles of books on the history of roses, tiptoeing behind the work of gardeners and breeders of the ages.

Both philosophically and aesthetically, I have traveled full circle from modern hybrids to the most ancient roses and back around to modern hybrids. HTs do indeed bloom and bloom since they were designed to do this. They can be awkward shrubs, and their awkwardness is emphasized when they are planted in bare rows--spiky sticks-in-the-dirt. Early in life, I thought they were lovely. Later, I thought they were displeasing. Now I find many to be beautiful in their own ways.

HTs, like everything created and either appreciated or despised, express an ideal of a particular time and place. Something very philosophical that I sense is embodied in HTs is the acknowledgement that both our lives and our rose blooms can be brief and fragile. I think that like Camus' work at the time, the creation of and love for midcentury HTs was in many ways a response to war and recovery. I imagine that HT breeders were only too aware of mortality and life's fleeting moments of joy. In the aftermath of such large-scale and devastating struggles, a relatively healthy Peace (metaphorically and horticulturally) blooming and reblooming was something readily embraced by post war gardeners. Peace may still be the most popular rose ever raised. It was for a very long time.

I know that the longer I walk the earth, the more I appreciate both the fleeting blooms of albas and gallicas and the long-term flowering cycles of modern hybrids. The combination of the two in my own garden has come to represent struggle and freedom, responsibility and the ability to find release, discrete moments of beauty and the continuity of the beautiful. Some roses contribute to my struggle. Some roses contribute to my understanding that ease is also meaningful..especially when contrasted with struggle. Perhaps Camus would agree?

I'm curious to read your ongoing thoughts as you travel your gardening journey. Each of us us learns our own version of wisdom as, day by day, we place our hands in the earth. Please continue to share!

Fellow philosopher-gardener Carol

Carol---You are quite a writer-----so many talented people on thiis Forum-----I am enjoying all these stories very much.

Florence

Carol, your ability to think deeply and to make connections between roses and their own particular Zeitgeist, not to mention bringing them to life with such grace and insight, is a very special quality, and a gift to us here. Roses are more than just flowers; they've been the companions of man in his journey through history, and therefore are imbued with much more meaning than many of us would ponder in our day-to-day existence with them. However, if we allow ourselves to do so, the experience of growing these beautiful plants becomes infinitely richer for that.

Ingrid

I have loved reading everyone's responses here!

As I should have known, Ma Nature heard me speaking and decided that I should have a little more work to do since I wasn't satisfied with Peace's easy of care. Iceberg has contracted a nasty case of blackspot, and Sharifa Asma has as well. Both are in the process of undressing themselves. Such immodesty. Mary Rose is flopping all over, dropping leaves, and lord knows what else. Charlotte's new growth has ended in terminal bud death so I need to lop that off. Veteran's Honor looks ratty and has canes that are growing criscrossed.

Looks like I once again have my hands full!

Josh

Immodest roses! I love that description. I have a few exhibitionists in my garden, too. Just look at those bare canes! Woo-hoo!

It sounds like Camus' ghost has risen. No more peace in the garden, but at least you still have Peace! Sisyphus' perseverance is nothing compared to a gardener's. I'm about to grab my gloves and roll a boulder up the mountain...I mean pick off the blackspot that has traveled from Black Gold (exhibitionist) to Tamora's formerly clean foliage. And so on....

:-)
Carol

Amazing what a great post this has been. Always i enjoy the philosophical side of rose growing. Oddly I found that when I began to enjoy the old roses that I also began to appreciate the more modern roses for what they were. At this point it is difficult for me to disparage any of them. My husband says every rose has its day. I agree.

He's right, Pamela, every rose does have its day. It's just some have MANY more days than others! Kim

In a similar vein, I went on a rant to my SO the other day about "low maintenance" or "no maintenance" yards and plants, to the extent that I swerved into no-maintenance houses, carefree jobs and "easy" children. There comes a point, with all this no-care philosophy, when one must ask oneself: what do I care about and into what am I willing to put my time, energy and love?

If one buys a house touted for its low-maintenance, a yard for it's plant-it-and-forget-it ability, wishes for mild, temperate children, looks for stress-less jobs, and well-adjusted friends--what has one actually chosen? The absence of care, time and love. There is no struggle, no righteous fight against nature’s elements or discordant events. Ones daily interactions are meaningless because all the struggle and all the desire to support, love and aid those interactions has been lobotomized, split away from reality, cleaved apart with aloof precision.

This is not to say everyone should wish for a garden requiring of sweeping measures of care, or that it is some terrible thing to wish for mild-mannered--or at the very least, not ragingly monstrous--children. Rather, there should be some line one must establish, some point breached that makes us think, “yes, I should care about this; I should put care into this”. So much indifference and impassivity disassociates us from reality--messy, frustrating, trying, tiring reality, but also rewarding, giving, bountiful, harmonious, joyous reality.

I, for one, choose to place my love and energy into my garden, my plants, and my roses. I deadhead roses because I know I’ll have a lovely second showing sooner rather than later. I thoughtfully prune to give my roses the opportunity to show their best features. I fill planters with colorful annuals, propping them out front so passer-byers might catch a glimpse into my reality, the things I choose to care for and put my love into. I plant roses that require some degree of love and attention, because the fragrance of a single rose fills me with harmony and peace. Frivolous? Perhaps. Meaningless? I think not. Who is to say what might bring another meaning?

So, yes, I understand the thought that sometimes that which requires no attention elicits little wonder. Similarly to children vying for their parent’s attention, I was under the mistaken idea that striving for perfection would win my parents’ approval or attention. Rather it was the rebellious, drug and sex fueled antics of my siblings that so ensnared their attention. For good or ill, sometimes a little fuss and muss is necessary to truly appreciate something. What is appreciation without perspective?

I am afraid that I have a more prosaic outlook and simply appreciate the easy to grow roses.
Having said that, it occurs to me, that perhaps it is not as simple as that.
For an example, I have Lady Emma Hamilton and Archduke Charles.
In my garden they are both easy-peasy roses.
They both bloom their heads off almost all year round.
They both are unworried by the hot summer sun.
They are both extremely healthy and shapely bushes.
Yet, I am always admiring Lady Emma Hamilton.
I am always thinking of what I can plant with her to accentuate her beauty.
I deadhead her promptly, and am happy to do so.
I am always bringing one or two of her blooms into the house to enjoy....and I am forever taking photos of her.

Archduke Charles, however, hardly gets a glance.
At the moment it needs deadheading, but I keep putting it off, because it is a nuisance to me.
The only time I photograph it, is in midwinter, when there are not so many roses out.
Why do I feel so differently about these two roses?
The only thing I can put it down to, is that Lady Emma Hamilton has a wonderful perfume and Archduke Charles has none.

Lady Emma Hamilton to-day.

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Daisy

Amelie, you've captured some of the spirit of Josh's original post in your response, and how wonderful that you've been able to choose and be successful at something so healthy and enriching as a garden, rather than the poor choices it sounds like your siblings have made. We've had other threads lamenting that other non-gardeners don't appreciate the effort involved in a garden or the uniqueness of what results, but your post emphasizes that most of us garden to satisfy something in ourselves regardless of whether others appreciate it, including the wish for a personal challenge.

I'm all for low-maintenance in some aspects of my life - starting with cleaning the house! - because it leaves me more time to appreciate my family and garden and career in the aspects of my life where I seek out some difficulty. At the same time, I appreciate the "easy" roses in my yard, partly because they leave me more time to coddle the fussy-pants roses that I pick for the challenge. When I have a nonstop bloomer like Bad Worishofen charging ahead I can enjoy those blooms and not worry that a notorious wimp like Tom Brown hasn't even thought about blooming in his second year, and still might die on me. If all of my 750 roses required a lot of care, I'd be nothing but a full-time gardener, and probably one in a padded jacket! I grow roses way out of my zone like teas, and fussy wimps like lavenders and russets, because like Josh and many other posters, I don't want things too easy and have an insatiable curiosity, a love of the unusual, and desire to push the limits of my garden a bit. However, now that we're ramping into serious heat and drought in July and August, even the fussbuckets are on their own - by default, it's low maintenance time beyond watering and occasional deadheading. I like to have the best of both worlds!

Cynthia

Cynthia,
Thanks :) I, too, am pretty much out of the garden till this horrendous heat wave passes. At 104 ºF heat advisories, those roses are going to have to learn to defend themselves. Other than the bands I just up-potted and watering, I just can't take it out there! I can barely schlep the four blocks to the cafe for an iced coffee (i.e., I'm trying to force myself to leave the house a bit more often, haha).
About those teas, though. I haven't considered them because of the zone issue. But I saw your other post re: teas and they look awesome! Of course, I don't have nearly as many roses as you, so I suppose I have a bit more luxury of time in tending roses, in general, haha :) Right now I'm limited by space, but I'm trying to layout a plan to maximize my potential max number of roses :) :) :)