Right hole, wrong rose

14 years ago

Have you ever...

My original rose bed from 2007 has been sitting there for months with a huge (a relative term since nothing is huge about my yard) blank space after the removal of Spice and Natchitoches Noisette. The ends were fine with Louis Philippe at one and Mrs B R Cant between the oaks at the other. Belinda's Dream was moved to Spice's spot when he went bye-bye, leaving a space next to LP of 8ish x 9ish. Typically, my planting plans materialize as I'm gathering the planting accoutrements at ground zero and just before I pick up the shovel, and I was really pleased with today's plan. It would find homes for THREE roses and get them out of my pot row. Mme Scipion Cochet at the back midway between LP & BD with a good 5' from all centers. So as not to repeat the bad plan of the original which left the back roses inaccessible, I was careful to choose a smaller rose for the front, Souv de la Malmaison, with some space for getting through. But my pie de rÃ©sistance was to put SdlM, Climbing in between and slightly to the right to pillar on a 4x4 in the middle of the bed. I thought it would be a thing of beauty to have the bush and climber in bloom together (though not often, apparently) with the medium pink of MSC behind.

So MSC goes in - lovely. The post and SdlM, Cl go in - lovely. SdlM bush's spot is expanding the bed a bit into virgin territory, i.e., sand, so I get it all amended, dig the hole, drop in a shovelful of composted horse manure, couple handfuls of alfalfa & milorganite, pick up the rose, de-pot it, hold it upside-down so I can sprinkle mycorrhizae all over & under on the roots, sprinkle just a touch in the bottom of the hole, place the rose in the hole but it comes apart so I sprinkle some more myco in the gaps, and fill in the hole with amended soil. Excellent! While I'm bent over double, I figure I'll remove the name tag looped around one cane. While my clumsy glove-covered fingers are fighting with the tag, I'm thinking, "Rose Petals Nursery doesn't put tags on their roses. Didn't I buy you from RPN? Hmmm, what does this tag say anyway?" WHAT???? White Maman Cochet??? Well, dang, I must have picked up the wrong pot, so back to pot row, but no SdlM. Huh? Where did she go? I ask myself while scratching my head. Scratching my head works every time. Oh, man, I planted her a week ago in the front yard! So much for piÃ¨ce de rÃ©sistance! And on top of that, WMC ain't gonna fit in that spot. So I very deftly insert my shovel up against WMC's backside, remove her & drop her into her old pot, kind of bulging a bit. Now what? Ah, ha! Run go get Baronne Prevost who will be a perfect fit, not too wide and not too tall since I'll have to prune her back after every bloom to keep the BS under control. When I bought her a couple weeks ago, I had no clue where she was going. So my mess-up turned into a blessing that I will easily be able to smell as I walk past. And that bed is complete, hopefully, for a long time. Feels very good!

Sherry

P.S. Sometimes it doesn't pay to plan. On the other hand I don't mind being overruled when it works out so well - which, of course, it always does.

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Comments (6)

texaslynn
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Must have been one of those "oh sh**t" moments you were referring to earlier! Were you really hot while you were working? :)

But it is nice that it turned out well after all! And you freed up your pot ghetto for some NEW tenants - ha!

Lynn
duchesse_nalabama
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sherry,
will you turn on your verbal prowess and wax eloquent on mycorrihizae? I've never used it and am considering it.

come on, convince me! Gean
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melissa_thefarm
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Fun to read about if not to have happen. I bet you every single rose lover on this forum knows about frantic improvisation. Thanks for the story!
Melissa
sherryocala
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Lynn, you guessed it! I'm sure there were a couple in there somewhere. But no, I wasn't excruciatingly hot since I got out there at about 10:00 (early for me) and had only been at it a couple of hours or so. I thought I'd be in the shade longer than I was, but can't have everything. It was just normal hot not exhausted hot. And yes, I only have 5 pots now but six on their way. What was I thinking? Two of the ones I have are minis and 3 coming are polyanthas. Ya know the theory 'I'll take two they're small'?

Gean, I have no proof in my garden that mycorrhizae works since I put it on all of my roses. I've seen photos on the internet of plants with and without the microbes - big difference. I figured that since to my eye my soil looked awful and devoid of life, it couldn't hurt to give them all the help I could. I suppose if you've had an organic garden for a long while you might not need them because they're already there. But I was starting from scratch. When I pot up the bands, I use it, and I've debated whether I need it again when I plant in the garden but I use it anyway. It only takes a teaspoon or so for each plant. I get "Rooter's" on Amazon.com. (I just bought my third container, and I've planted over 100 roses, most potted up first.) I've only had growth problems with Gruss an Aachens, and I think that's an issue with the particular rose. I have 4 left of the original 7 - sadly, and 1 or 2 of those may go. So unfortunately, I have no convincing evidence, eloquent or not, and if I used my 'verbal prowess' on you, you would even now be logging on to Amazon and making your purchase which could be a wrong move for you, so I'll restrain myself.

Melissa, you know me, I tend to overthink things in order to achieve 'perfection'. I've learned on this journey, and it's seems reasonable to think I would make fewer mistakes, right? So I really don't sweat it like I used to, hence the decision-making process on the way to do the deed (plus the fact that I had no clue about what would be right for this space.) I was sad that I wouldn't have SdlM in that spot, but then I was happy about BP being there. Perhaps my garden plans were first made in heaven. Maybe I'm not 'the gardener' but only the labor. That would please me to no end, because then for sure I'd be working in a beautiful garden. BTW, I've been enjoying Henry Mitchell. I just wish he talked less about spring bulbs. That's a northern obsession, I'm afraid, and not one I'll ever have to deal with.

Sherry
duchesse_nalabama
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Sherry, thanks for sharing your opinion on the mycorrhizae. And for your funny story. I always enjoy your garden adventures. The home and garden shows make gardening seem so smooth and easy; my gardening style is much more like what you describe. That plus poison ivy!
sherryocala
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Oh, Gean, I'm so thankful I don't have poison ivy here. I feel for you. Thank you for your compliments. I like to be funny and lighthearted, and I'm glad my style clicks with you, except occasionally when my humor isn't exactly detectable. :((
I hope that wasn't the case with the myco comments. As soon as I clicked submit, I was fearful that something I said would offend. Writing silliness is risky unless I can get better at it. But I do think you are an easy audience, Gean. You're so nice to me.

Sherry

Right hole, wrong rose

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texaslynn

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Right hole, wrong rose

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