mary_lu, I have a birdnest in one of my foundation shrubs so I can't prune them. Mama bird gets upset when I get too near. I haven't heard any babies yet.

Oh gosh we have a bird condo under our porch this year - I'm not sure what kind... I see Cardinals in the backyard at our feeder, but I think they are just some common sparrows or something under the front porch.

There is a row of perfect 1x1 crevices so each one had a next, like 4 or 5 in 5 feet! Three look like they have stayed for the season, maybe a few got chased off by the others? Last year we shooed them all away but were too slow this year. Oh well we will enjoy the baby cheeping in a few weeks. kind of. hehe

anyway, good luck with your trimming and roses and painting later in the season!

N

MaryLu, it won't be long.

Last year ours hatched May 5th.

The breeding season can run from March to as late as September. The female will lay 2-5 eggs that are buff-white with dark marks. The female is the only one to incubate the eggs. The males duty during this time is to feed her on the nest and protect their territory from intruders. The female will incubate the eggs for 12- 13 days.

Here is a link that might be useful: chronicle of the birds.

Sounds like others have nests going on right now too! Such fun, I sure hope she is able to hatch them this year. Last year they did not hatch and she quit sitting the nest.

I am now debating taking the roses out after she is off the nest. They really look pretty when in bloom, but sure cause problems for painting. Thinking maybe planting annual vines there instead. What do you think? I could move one of the roses to the "porch without a house" as I took the grape vine off a couple years ago. Right now I only have 2 clematis growing on it. I will have to really cut the roses down so that we can get behind it to paint. Will not look like picture below when I cut done cutting it. But what else can I do? We changed colors on the house. This area was supposed to be painted last year, but it got too late and the rose was ready to bloom, so put off painting until this spring. Well, spring was so early with cold nights, that we could not paint then either....

{{gwi:283919}}

It was exciting. The first picture of the baby, is the one that kept jumping out of the nest and could not fly yet. This went on for 3 days. It was very stressful. We put the cat ina carrier. The parents finally figured out that we would not hurt him.
We put him back in the nest each night.

As long as you have to cut them anyway why not move them.
On the fence I put large coffee cup type hooks in the wood and hug wire on those. Then if we need to replace or repair the fence, my plan is to lay the wire down on the grass.

Our original thought was to lean the trellis out away from the house, as it is screwed into the eve. But the canes are too stiff, not bendable enough. So cutting them back is the only solution.

Mentioned it to DH tonight, and he thinks moving them and planting annual vines there instead would be the best. That way we can always access it in the future as needed. Think I will buy some bamboo roman shades for the inside of the screens on that end of the porch. We have them on the other end to help block the late afternoon sun. The end of the porch with the roses faces an alley, so the roses blocked the view of the inside of the porch from the alley.

I was thinking that once it was painted, it would be a pretty long time before it had to be painted again, right? Another thought would be to change the structure it is growing on. I remember reading a suggestion of putting a horizontal piece of wood at the bottom of a trellis that you can add a hinge to, so you can fold it forward to get behind it. You could also cut them back hard next spring and paint and then start all over again with the roses and in the meantime, adjust the trellis so that it is more moveable.

Also I don't know that annuals will block the view to the alley as well as that does.

Good luck, it's a beautiful display and a great solution for facing an alley!

Are the roses repeat bloomers? I agree with prariemoon. Do you think you will paint again any time soon?

Reminds me of the time we all had hail damage. A neighbor came by to ask me for the name of our roofer. She said the ones she had talked to had only a 15 years warranty. I asked her age. She said 72,
then she laughed and said she probably would not need a 20 year warranty.

Kathy

"You could also cut them back hard next spring and paint and then start all over again with the roses"

Prairiemoon2, that has been our plan for the past 2 springs, but the timing on it just has not worked out. Too much rain to paint, too cold at night for painting, cardinal makes a nest in the roses, etc. Then the roses are blooming and another spring is gone!

Well, to tell you the truth, I had such insect damage to a couple of my shrub roses, two years in a row, that I cut them back to the ground after the first flush of bloom, just as it was getting hot. I know you are not supposed to do that, but I was thinking I would just get rid of them, but then they survived and even had some rebloom late that season, so I kept them. It might not be ideal, but I would not lose another spring waiting for the exact right time. I do understand, I do that to myself too. Try to find the 'perfect timing'. OR, you could attempt to relocate the bird nest? I know I would be reluctant to do that, but...how late will it be before they are done with the nest? Do you have another climbing rose that you could move it to?

Mary Lu,

That's a beautiful rose. Is that "Ramblin' Red"?

bellarosa, yes, I have 2 Ramblin' Red planted there. They have done so well. It really is a shame to cut them back like I plan on doing. But if we leave them there, hopefully they will regrow again. It is a fantastic rose. Minimal winter die back and flowers off and on all summer well into fall. I planted them as bareroots.