What a lovely man! You are so blessed and he is too to have you.

A lovely tribute to your husband. He sounds like one of the great ones.

That's so sweet. I knew my dh was the one for me when we were dating and I saw he had a sweet potato growing in his window LOL! (You know how the potato is placed in the glass of water with toothpicks and kinda makes a vine) Now he doesn't grow that much stuff but does some heavy lifting and helps me get my portable seasonal greenhouse up in the fall. Sometimes he builds trellises etc. He keeps the lawn mowed and I am glad for that because I'm really allergic to cut grass.

Your husband and mine are brothers in this.

Without him, there would be no garden -- but there's another great thing. He's a Dog Guy. Only a woman who is a Dog Lady can understand the importance of having a Dog Guy for a mate.

We met at a dog show. The roses came later, but though they are a shared venture, they could not exist without the work he does. So, a salute to Clay Jennings . . .

Rose Guy, and . . .

Dog Guy.

Melissa, I've admired your husband for years for his unwavering support and the incredible amount of work he has put into your garden, which I often felt was more for his devotion to you than to the garden. That makes his contribution even more special.

I can say, along with Jeri, that without my husband there would be no garden. I'm not capable of planting anything larger than a dandelion, and he has dug and amended hundreds of holes and planted hundreds of plants in them, most of them roses. He has ripped out, without a single word of complaint, roses he had planted because I said they were a mistake, and replanted others. All this without being the least interested in gardening, but because he said it put a smile on my face.

No worries, Melissa! Ha, ha. I've accidentally "liked" myself, too. I think you can tap the "like" button again and "unlike" yourself. Sometimes I "like" comments and later find the "like" has disappeared. So, when I correct the error, it looks as if I didn't appreciate a comment until two days later.

Anyway, cheers again to your wonderful husband and all the other wonderful partners and family members and friends that dig our holes, amend our soil, water our plants, build our trellises and perform all those other hard labor and time-consuming tasks that make our gardens grow and flourish! Carol

Jim supports my passion daily. He complains not when he says there are 100 plus babies in the baby rose cage (caged against the bunnies) and I add another five. He readily understands when I say two roses don't belong together, just asks where it needs to go. He pulls out the weeds, digs the paths, collects and places the rock retaining walls. And understands why I get upset when a gopher gets a rose. Fortunate to be so loved. Am I am so glad you and others are as well.

I'm glad to hear all these heartening stories. They give me hope for the human race.

Having had the honor of meeting your wonderful husband some years ago, all I can say is three cheers for men like him!

My Tom is a supportive husband as well, though I prefer to do most of the garden work myself. He helps when I let him, and never objects to anything I want to do. And in return, I support him putting up ham radio towers in the garden. It is an exchange of support. I think good marriages are like that.

Glad to hear there are so many good marriages out there.

Rosefolly

It is a good day, and a great opportunity, to thank all of these wonderful gentlemen.

My husband has evolved over the years, from someone who only mowed the lawn and dug holes, to someone who goes out and starts pruning the 3 story tall roses without me asking, and does it very well! He has invented and built all sorts of supports for the roses, including arches, and even obelisks made of copper plumbing pipes which are lovely. Some of our larger plants, such as the fig forest, and the pomegranate thicket, and the ancient camellias, are supported by unobtrusive but elaborate rigging of ropes and wire (he sails sailboats). Could not have a garden without him.

When talking to him about roses, I use their names. He has no idea what I am talking about, until I explain where the rose is geographically in the garden - so funny. Does not care what kind of roses I buy, and always helps to plant them. Lately he has even begun to train some of the large ones himself - does a great job.

So, here's to all of our lovely spouses who do way more than just help - I don't know about you, but my DH loves working on projects, and now finds plenty of them in the garden. So wonderful.

Jackie

Roses are a civilizing influence, I guess. No wonder we love them.

I wish I had a DH like that...

This is such a nice thread! I have to add praise for my own DH. He does most of the mowing and weed-whacking, and has made me quite a few trellises on the house for climbers, but doesn't really do any of the other garden work. (I prefer to do my own digging, pruning, and training, and though I wouldn't mind help with the weeding, I would never ask him.) But he is my best supporter! He loves the garden, and it means so much to me to see him enjoy it. Also, he notices things that I miss: I'll be running around, fretting about weeds and pruning and etc., and he'll ask me "which is the one blooming there, its so beautiful" and then I'll stop and notice - oh yes, it IS beautiful, in spite of all of my moaning about the heat and the beetles and etc. He helps me with placement, often having really good ideas about how things will go together that I just miss. And he takes really good pictures of the garden, much better than I ever manage. Finally, he's so tolerant of the constant messes I make indoors (particularly during seed-starting season, and bare-root-rose-soaking season). I feel very lucky to have such a great partner to share the garden with!

Frances, that's such a lovely and loving tribute.