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Eat your collective hearts out, dears.

20 years ago

My neighbour who is a very nice man and works as a groundsman at a nearby school (and not to be compared to the horror on the other side of us), said to me over the fence the other day, "Ann, you like roses, don't you?"....

"yes", says I, as I was deheading the 20 odd roses that are in pots just there.

"Well", he says, "a few months back, we had a school fete and there are all these roses left over that nobody wants and they are going to dump them. Would you like any?"

What could I say? actually, I was speechless there for a brief few seconds.

"oh, well", says I, "if they are going to dump them...."

So this afternoon found me in my idea of seventh heaven...rumaging thru maybe, 30 or so pots of roses.

They were in terrible condition...as you can imagine.

And a lot of them were climbers which I really have no place for BUT.....

Satchmo, Lagerfeld, Julia's Rose, Mercedes have all found a new home plus Altissimo which I just couldn't resist. Ever since I saw it up at a Toowoomba park, I've just loved it. All I have to do now, is work out where to put it.

They are root-bound in little pots and in terrible condition but all, with maybe the exception of Julia's Rose (it can be a bit touchy) will bounce back no problem at all, once I get them into their new homes and give them a good feed.

Fortunately the rain we've had lately has kept them going.

Happy Sigh! See it doesn't take much me happy.

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Comments (8)

ashmeri
20 years ago
munch, munch, chew, chew.
Glad you have a great good neighbour.

sighing and wishing you well with them all.
Marion
User
20 years ago
Lucky you!! I do hope they thrive for you.
Cheers,
Dee. (a bit green, but where would I put them anyway!)
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User
20 years ago
Thats Great Annie. I have neighbours like that too, only they dont give away roses
Actually there are only three houses with roses in the garden in our area.
I do hope you have lots of success with your freebies so will be looking forward
To many Pics of them in the future.........Cheers..MM.
youngquinn_gw
20 years ago
Hrmmmph!!
Bluebelle_Riverina
20 years ago
Lucky you...and good luck with getting them to recover from their "rootboundedness". I'm sure you'll do a good job with your adoptees. I would love to have Altissimo too - although I'm a lover of fully petalled, urn shaped hybrid teas, I am impressed with Altissimo's intensity of colour and profusion of flowers. That's often the way with most plants, isn't it...the singles put on a better display than the doubles eg oleanders, azaleas.
annie_____
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks, everyone.
I'll post some piccies when they recover a bit.
janineJ9
20 years ago
oh you lucky lady! Ah, seventh heaven - free roses !!! I have got everyone at work well aware of my obsession and now a few of them are bringing in cut roses from their bushes at home...and who do you think is taking them home when they're ready to chuck out, to pot them up as cuttings? well...I just have to try...some of them are exquisitely perfumed and they have nice pencil thick stems! Wouldn't you do it too?
Signed, another obsessive roselover.
annie_____
Original Author
20 years ago
gotta tell ya Janine, I've been known to buy the roses from Woollies just to try to strike them...even though I know that it's either totally impossible, or next to, totally impossible to do so.
but...hey, no harm in trying, is there?

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