hehehe...Josh, I have "officially" been christened, "The Enabler from H#ll! I lost count of how many hundreds (literally) roses I have given away over the past thirty years. Very few were actually shovel pruned and trashed. Most were sent off to populate my sisters' gardens, friends', neighbors, even the casual visitor to the garden. I drive down the street leading to either of my sister's houses and see the 'fruits of my garden' flowering for blocks, literally. Some I've missed, most I haven't. If they go way to live elsewhere, it's most often because they either didn't live up to what I hoped they would be, or just weren't suited for my garden or me. Kim

I have a good friend who's a gardener but was frustrated with roses. Her climbers were out of control, her shrubs were leggy and nothing bloomed particularly well - she shoveled up the lot and threw them out. About a week ago I had her over to smell my David Austins and to do a pruning lesson (I swear if more people knew how to shape a rose and encourage rebloom with good pruning, NO ONE would say no roses, ever!). She's converted, and we'll be going in on an order together from David Austin in Texas next year. She was so happy to understand the benefits of proper pruning and siting (why people plant roses in shade areas, I will never know...) and is excited to put roses into her garden again. :)

Kim was my co-conspirator in convincing a friend of mine who thought she had too much shade to grow roses well that she could easily grow roses on her property.

When he came up to deliver some roses he had propagated for my garden, we had to go to BJ's so that she could over winter them in her greenhouse. He walked her garden ... her winter garden ... and he told her she could grow roses quite well on her property. He even sent her some cuttings that he had prepared and she has been bringing them along to plant in her garden next year.

I helped with some rejuvenation pruning on the roses she already had and gave her a heart attack when I cut them back to healthy wood. Those roses are flourishing. I also gave her nine roses that I knew would do better in her garden than they have done in mine because they need afternoon shade and I don't have any shade in my garden.

She's already collected cuttings from an abandoned house and is getting very serious about propagating roses.

Of course, she is green up to her eyebrows and can grow just about anything. She just had never been taught how to prune a rose so that it would be a healthy and productive plant. All she needed was a little nudge.

Smiles,
Lyn

I try, but have never had much luck. Mainly I swap plants with fellow fanatics. We all have splendid collections.

I am a new gardener, but have already begun sowing my seeds of seduction amongst various friends and family. One lady I know has the greenest thumb I've ever seen, but she struggles to grow roses. I advised her to lessen the watering, as she was washing out nutrients and waterlogging the plants. I gifted her with an Austin rose to start her new endeavor. The last report I heard was that the plant was happy, healthy, and starting to bloom. Success! :-D

It seems to that the Austins are excellent 'first' roses for our victims. Between the bloom form and the scent they are very persuasive. Plus, I have never known a person who is unenthusiastic about receiving a rose! (Especially when it's free).

We may just convert the world, ladies and gentlemen. One garden at a time. :-)

Josh

I gifted 'Lyda Rose' to my former roommate and her boyfriend at their new home, and I have a 'Baltimore Belle' waiting to go to another friend, who will plant it to climb a tree at his mom's house. When I was in Buffalo, I was asked to help with getting a town grant for a public planting, and I picked out some Gallicas and Albas to frame four "pre-planned garden" beds of perennials. I also ordered a bunch for myself, intending to grow them in pots until I moved, but after two disappeared one night, I decided to gift the remaining ones to my neighbors. And when I was finally ready to leave Buffalo, I bought more as "farewell gifts" for the people I'd miss. In all, I think that makes about 60 that I've passed on.

And speaking of which -- there are a few people here waiting for me to pass on a few more. I apologize for the delay -- getting this back yard in shape has been taking up all my free time. I promise that on my next day off (Wednesday), I'll make a trip to the post office to get the shipping boxes. Every morning I would just find myself in the yard working and lose track of time. It's off-topic, but you can check my progress in the link below.

:-)

~Christopher

Here is a link that might be useful: NJ Garden Pics Album on Facebook

I've been guilty of enabling every one of my neighbors on my circle, as well as my backyard neighbors. It started out innocently - the neighbors to the east invited me to expand my shade bed into their yard (like I need any encouragement), and I put Bonica and Larry Daniels and Caldwell Pink over there too. Now they're hooked and I see other roses popping up here and there. Three or four other neighbors have been gifted with Rogue Valley mystery roses, since I tend to receive multiple cultivars of the same rose in any given year. Another neighbor who already had a few roses really got into it with me and I let her pick some of the free roses from RVR as well rather than picking ones for myself. She always mentions waiting to see me start pruning my roses in the spring before she starts on hers. My back yard neighbor's husband is the main gardener, and he always talked about how his mother obsessively sprayed and picked off the foliage of her roses and how he was convinced roses are "too much work" (sound familiar?) They got a "Carefree Delight" and a few other free roses gifted from me to get them hooked, and I think this year they're going to order a few more from Chamblees.

I also got my sister-in-law in South Carolina some certificates from Roses Unlimited as a housewarming gift, and even though she describes herself as "not a gardener at all" she's really started to get the bug, and is enthusiastic about veggies as well other blooming plants.

I also bring ziplock bags of alfalfa hay to anyone of my acquaintance who mentions having roses and wanting them to grow better or have more canes, so hopefully no one mistakes this for (ahem) illegal baggies of botanical substances. I love being a rose pusher, but that's my limit.

Cynthia

I gifted a good friend a Therese Bugnet with the guarantee that it be low maintenance when they moved into a new house. My sister and BIL just bought a new house and I'm doing a short split rail fence and three rose combo as a birthday/Christmas present for her.

all my friends are philistines but my offspring, who have been on the receiving end of my mania for the last 15 years or so, have definitely caved in - eldest was first with an exhuberant Madame Alfred (the first in a long series and probably the most faithful to the old bourbons and noisettes), daughter followed (Cecille Brunner and latterly, Rambling Rector and Purple Skyliner) and finally, the youngest has looked beyond his beloved nepenthes with the most floriferous rose I know - a little everblooming Sommerwind.
Even my sweetheart has selected and bought - ostensibly for me (but I know better) Golden Wings, Jacqueline du Pre and Dainty Bess and a little excursion to Beale's species collection really got him going.