Above is my brown raised bed made from resin (hard plastic) that don't rot for the past 10 years. Home Depo has a sale in late fall, on vinyl or composite raised bed, they sell in small plastic sections that snap together (even a 5-year-old can put it up). Above is a single layer, but I stack up another frame on top to make it 2 feet tall.

One can snap the pieces together to make a square one 4 feet tall. They come in small sections that snap together to make any shape frame. They are about $100 for a vinyl raised bed, put-together in less than 10 min. Then I ordered a load of top-soil ($160) to fill those long rectangular bed. That saves me from digging deep in my rock-hard-clay. Home Depot has a large selection of vinyl raised beds to choose & free shipping:

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Raised-Garden-Beds/Vinyl/N-5yc1vZbx7cZ1z0vb2m?storeSelection=

Straw - well that's a great idea! And then you just add soil every year. :)

Sharon - oh that's disgusting and totally frightening to be picking up used syringes and condoms!! Man! You have ATTITUDE!!! Love it!! I sang along with the words! I think Straw's idea is really good! And not that expensive compared to rebuying new roses!

Maybe do a combination...a huge raised (if affordable) deck made out of that plastic stuff like Sherry recommended. Then put the raised beds that Straw recommended on top of that. Then, you're like "ha!!! Do your best, flooding!!" Nanner nanner!! It just depends on if you can afford this and have the ability to build all of that. Or...do you have a really big front yard that doesn't flood?

This really is crappy, and I feel sorry for you with this situation. :(

rosecanadian my front yard isn't a very good location for roses. I have a huge banyan tree that shades everything..... I have a lemon tree, but it never produces lemons because it never gets enough sun. The banyan tree is over a hundred years old and the home to a lot of critters.... but the best two things about the banyan tree is that under the tree it must be a 15 degrees cooler in the summer.... it cuts my aircondition bill, plus it is a nice place to rest after working in the garden. I don't think it is just because it is shady, but because the leaves are so big and the transpiration that it has.... at least that is my theory.... but the 2nd thing is those big leaves are really good for my plants. I grind them up and then add them straight to the garden without having to compost them. Since I started doing that I find earthworms.... something I never had until then.

So you guys are probably tired of seeing my flooding.... but I have no one else who really cares that my roses are drowning.... not even DH.... he just says yo can plant more....

Just took these this morning.... and it isn't even high tide as of yet..... it will only get worse.... harder and harder to keep up beat...

This driftwood must like me.... yesterday I pushed it back off the property when the water came up.... now it is back.

And notice the leafless canes....

I had twenty of these blue pots in a huge circle with roses in them.... some had even rooted through the pots into the ground.... but the ground is so saturated and the pots floated pulling the roots up out of the ground.... I have only maybe ten roses left in the pots. the others have died..... and not sure if the rest will make it....

sorry if I sound like I am complaining.... I guess I am, I just so sad over this.... Had to get it off my chest.

Sharon: I'm sad too looking at the pics. of your flooded garden. I'm praying that the flood will recede fast.

Wow I really feel for you, Sharon! Is this the same "King Tides" that flood Miami and surrounding areas? You may end up having to move as the oceans are rising.

We have had flooding here just due to heavy rainfall and backup from a small river branch behind our property. When we first moved here that River branch was very low and only had water after a heavy storm, now it stays full and there's even deep pools off the side that stay filled up. Its kinda brackish as well but probably not as bad as your water. When it floods now it comes up to the house and floods out barn, sheds, etc. We will surely be moving.

I hear a thousand people a day are moving to FL, mainly from NY, NJ, & Calif. due to Covid and Wildfires. I hope they are moving inland lol.

I'm so sorry. How much longer will those tides last?

I don't know for sure..... I thought we had our King Tide last September, but now we are having the actual high tides now.... And I thought (according to the news) the worst was supposed to be Sunday.... this was Monday morning.... but now they are saying twice a day until Thursday.

Besides losing all of the roses, I can't stand the thought of picking all of the yucky crude up.....

Flooding from rain (which I have had) isn't as bad, because you don't get all of the nasty stuff washing in....

Again.... sorry if I am complaining too much.

Sharon - yes, that tree is well worth its prime spot! I do that too...I cut up all of my perennials into small bits in the fall and drop them into the garden. The earthworms love it! And, of course, you must vent here...you need to vent...and we totally get how sad this is for you...and how relentless the water situation is.

Sultry - moving is a good idea...but who would want to buy a house in a flood zone? If I were you, I'd move sooner rather than later.

Is your house in danger of flooding?

Not yet Sherry.... and hopefully not. Though one can never know just what nature will do.

I know it sounds kinda stupid, but I get attached to my plants. Even if they are common, like my Ditch lillies (Tawny Daylilies). I used to have a lot and they have gotten stomped back the last years. The special stuff, I can't even think about.

Even if you can find and replace the exact same cultivar of rose, I do understand why it won't be the same. It will be a baby and you had a mature plant. The plants change over the years and even if they have the same name, to me they are just a little different.

I got a new mock orange, but it is not fragrant like the ones I lost. It is getting tossed this winter.

Good luck, and if you can build a deck, that is what I would do. Put everything you want to keep in the pots on top of the raised deck.

Sherry - seriously??? He cut down your dormant trees, cause he thought they were dead? It sounds funny...but I know how mad you must have been!! Totally, totally not stupid!!! Here, we get it. My avatar picture is Paradise Found...which my husband left outside until the pot froze to the ground, because he didn't put a paver down after he removed the grass. It stayed out all winter and, of course, died. It was my favorite rose, naturally.

This makes me so sad. You definitely need to vent, otherwise you will burst from holding all that emotion in. Our plants become part of our extended family, I hope Mother Nature slows down and gives you and your plants a break.

Men are one-tracked-mind and do the most stupid things, like my husband insisted on weeding after I told him I spent $40 on flower-seeds, and THEY ARE FLOWERS and NOT WEEDS. He won't listen and killed all my flower-seedlings. I once read a book by a pathologist (woman doctor), she did lots of autopsies and document most deaths to male stupidity, like a guy drove with a mattress behind his open-pick-up-truck, and had his friend "lie down" on the mattress to secure it down. The wind blew both out, and his friend died. That's why single men don't live long like married men. One of women's purposes in life is to stop men from doing stupid things. I can write a book on the dumb things my husband did out of his one-track & goal-oriented mind, good for going to war and hunting, but NOT good for domestic life.

Sharon, I am so sorry about your flooding. Complain all you want. It is something we all would understand and agree with you about.

Straw - I hear you. You have to be very specific...and even then....

Definitely most young male deaths are by accidents...you only have to look at youtube stuff that they do...unbelievabley stupid.

I am so sorry this is happening :( The pictures break my heart. I only have a few roses, but even the smallest little things like a sawfly eating up the leaves make me upset, I cannot even imagine how you must feel. Partners who do not share the same hobby find it particularly peculiar how attached we are, but we understand you! The roses are very dear to us and we watch them grow, bloom, fade away, go to sleep, and eagerly wait for them to come back. We care for them almost every day. Hoping and wishing that the tides subside ASAP!!

Too "carefree" is another word I'd bring up about the men, ladies... My boyfriend, who I love dearly, is a little too carefree. I had ordered a box of dahlias last season and they came in a box with paper covering them. Naturally, I left them under the paper on the darkest side of the kitchen counter where it happens to be close to our trash can. I needed to wait until I could put them in the ground (it was too cold then!). He decided it was a bunch of potatoes I wanted to throw out and threw it in the trash and took it right out to the dumpster. No questions asked. I mean, really! Why would I have "potatoes" in a USPS box on the counter anyways? If that had been me finding that, I would have asked!

Oh Grace - I'm laughing at your

I mean, really! Why would I have "potatoes" in a USPS box on the counter anyways?

I'm glad we all have each other here. :)

Men are so focused on one thing that they neglect the details and consequences. Like my husband had the bright idea of taking out the front door knob & lock so he could paint the front door easier ... except he could not put the lock back and had to call a locksmith at a cost of $400. It would be easier just to tape the door-knob before painting. No, he's fixated on taking the door-knob out before painting.

Or he hurried to work and absent-mindedly left our big-freezer in the basement WIDE-OPEN, after looking for a frozen item. That freezer-chest stores my entire summer worth of tomatoes plus frozen foods for a month. Men are NOT connected to domestic items like women .. they often see the big picture ahead, while overlooking the details.

Oh my!!! Both of those are WHAT were you thinking moments!!! My husband always would get annoyed when I wouldn't believe him about things not being there because he's already looked. Why don't you believe me? I already looked there!

Suuuuuure...but just let me check anyway...sure enough that's where it would be. I double check everything he tells me about in the house. Sheesh. LOL

That doorknob situation is such a headache moment! They are for sure not detail-oriented if we have to double-check what they already "checked", definitely can relate to that!! So happy we can share and discuss here.

:) :)

Hi there Sharon,
I know how you feel. Flooding destroyed 34 roses I had....I planted them myself and they were my babies, I gave up! I found a new outlet and I gave it a shot. I spent a lot of money on these and currently, they’re struggling after going so well Bc the garden centre gave me horrible advice on spraying them. I may lose some but, I’m hoping for the best. I hope some of yours at least make it. If they dont, perhaps the consolation is you wouldn’t be leaving them behind when you move? I’m not sure here but, don’t get too discouraged. My mom always tells me - where there’s a will, there’s a way and where there’s hope, there is life. I hope you can get moved soon and settled.

The high tides have seemed to receded.... but it rained.... we got 15 inches..... that is not a typo.... we had 15 inches. So I REALLY flooded. The ground was so saturated from the tides there was no place for the rain to go. My front yard flooded too.... It came in my garage and in the side of my house..... What a mess.

As for husbands and the things they do.... I had a whole tray of rose seeds in the fridge.... granted it was my husband's beer fridge.... but he thought they looked unappetizing so he tossed them......

Is heartbreaking and hard to like this post, but your last comment was funny nonetheless.

I agree with Vaporvac.

Fifteen inches is an amazing amount of rain!! I really feel for you. :(

Saturday will be our full moon..... High tides will be 3 feet above normal..... when it has been flooding it was 4 feet and high winds..... we are supposed to get 40 knot winds on monday.... Hoping no more flooding we will see.

My yard that has the section mostly (not all) David Austins, I have decided to call Rose Pond.... so even though it floods it sounds much nicer than the flood section.... I need something that sounds cheery..... So I originally lost the Dark Lady.... and the three that washed out to sea.... I have lost one more - Falstaff. Both Dark Lady and Falstaff were own root, whereas the rest of them are on Fortuniana..... Fortuniana hates wet feet, so I was surprised that my own roots died whereas the others haven't (knock on wood)..... I have two Beverly's in that section because I thought it looked more like the Austin's than the HT..... It too is on fortuiana root stock.... They were in standing water for 4 days..... I thought for sure they were goners..... and they still may be, but he was blooming this morning. I hope that is a good sign. But NOW I am perplexed. I was thinking if I replanted this section I would use only own root roses, but if the ones on the fortuiana are the ones that made it and the own root ones died...... Your thoughts?

I have four rows of HT's right next to the house. This section did NOT get the high tides. I thought they were going to make it.... but when I had the 15 inches.... I guess it got a lot more with the runoff from the roof. But ironically, the HT's closes to the house seem to be ok..... (again knock on wood), but the row farthest from the house seem to be dying. All of the new growth is starting to wilt. This row consists of Paradise, Parade Day, Maverick, Moonstone, Marilyn Monroe, and Sunset Celebration...... The row also has Neil Diamond and Sugar Moon..... Sugar Moon so far has not wilted.... though it hasn't done anything, but Neil Diamond is putting out a lot of new growth.... I think Strawchicago said Neil is a water hog.... and it just might like all the rain....

Over in my hodge podge section I have a variety of roses.... Most seem to be ok with the exception of Mrs. B. R. Cant. I had three of them, and all three died. It is odd because they did not have standing water...... but they must hate excess water.

It's so hard to imagine having rose bushes floating out to sea! I'm thinking that your Fortuniana roses survived because they are supposed to have shallow roots, aren't they? So, the soil near the top would dry out sooner/easier than the soil deeper down (where other rosestock roots would go. So maybe a solution for you would be to, through attrition, convert your roses to Fortuniana?

And the roses closer to the house may get more reflected heat and eave overhang protection from the rain.

Good luck in making this work for you without having to continually buy new roses. I think that through your observations you may have found a solution!!

Fortuniana is a wide-spreading cluster root and can take flooding better. I once did a research on Fortuniana and found it's NOT best for a friend in Texas with alkaline tap water and DRY sandy soil (only 12" of rain per year). But a guy in sandy & acidic & high-rain India wanted roses grafted on Fortuniana.

Own-roots depend greatly on the type. The Dark Lady has Rugosa Heritage (stated in older Austin catalog) thus prefer DRY soil. My Dark Lady almost died during spring flood, I had to move it UP to a raised bed. I root roses and I notice that water-hog roses like cluster-root Austin-roses and LOW-THORN roses can take a wet-medium. But THORNY roses like The Dark Lady prefer a fast-draining medium plus rootings rot during tons of rain.

Best OWN-ROOTS for flooding: 1) glossy leaves like Neil Diamond , Barbara Streissand, Savannah. Glossy leaves need more water.

2) low-thorn roses like Sweet Mademoiselle, Annie L. McDowell, Frederic Mistral, Poseidon. These like my poor-drainage soaking wet clay.

Here's an excerpt from below link: https://www.tallahasseenurseries.com/what-is-fortuniana-rootstock/

Fortuniana rootstock+ Plants on fortuniana produce larger blooms than on other rootstocks or on their own roots
+ Fortuniana produces a large and vigorous root system
+ Nematode resistant and tolerant of sandy soils
+ Long lived, 20-40 years + Drought tolerant
– Slow to start – Needs staking, at least for the first 3-5 years
– Rootstock sprouts regularly from the roots and needs to be controlled

Dr. Huey Rootstock + Very strong starter, gives a big plant fast
+ Self supporting, plants on Dr. Huey can stand up without staking
+ Better behaved roots almost never sucker + Plants produce average to large blooms
+ Relatively compact root system + Good choice for roses in containers
– Needs rich soils, not ok in sandy soils
– Needs good soil, plenty of fertilizer, consistent moisture – Shorter lifespan of 5-12 years

Below link states that: "Fortuniana prefers acidic soil and doesn't do well in alkaline CA. It dies quickly in freezing weather. It's resistant to gall, nematodes, stem die-back and root diseases." https://scvrs.homestead.com/Rootstock2.html

Wow!!! Talk about great information!!! :)

Some gems in there going on my low thorn rose list! Straw, you are an exceptional resource here! Thank you!

Did not realize Poseidon is low-thorn.

I'm so sorry to hear of your flooding, Sharon. It's tragic to see destroyed what you've worked so hard to achieve.

Straw; I'm sorry but I can't help but be offended AND amused by your extreme overgeneralization regarding the male gender/men. I know I myself do not do many stupid things, let alone DANGEROUS ones. Personal experience has taught me, if we wish to do such things, that women (AND men for different aspects... personal experience here) aren't worth the headache, irrationality, and expense. I'm quite confident I'll do just fine without a pricy companion. 😉

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but that means that you are also privileged to hear those that disagree with you especially when they're directly being insulted or does not necessarily apply to them because there are exceptions to every rule, stereotype, and generalization.

Steven

Steven - Yes, a few of us got carried away. I apologize. We all have great respect for people (men and women). Hopefully we can leave it at that. :)

People have questioned me in the past about why I add extra perlite to my potted plants and especially roses..flooding is why lol. We are close to a river branch that has in occassion flooded our yard with brackish water. If we get very heavy rain in FL, which we often do, part of our yard can flood from rain. We have one corner with orange clay soil and a natural spring under it. It can be a little lake over there with heavy rainds and sit that way for days. Frogs love it ~ me and the roses don't!

The extra perlite helps that water drain much better from the pots. If we get drought however, I have to keep them extra well watered and that is more work.

The orange clay is also in other areas of the yard..many of the sunny areas, which sucks.

Sharon, at least all that rainwater may have flushed the brackish water from your roses roots.

Mostly, my younger roses are most affected by the flooding. The older ones will grow deep roots through the pots down into the soil but they still survive better as long as they arent in the clay/very wet areas.

Raindrops are falling on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothing seems to fit
Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling

So I just did me some talking to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleeping on the job
Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling

With all of the the rain and flooding the ground is still saturated.... now they are predicting Tropical storm Eta with up to a foot of rain....

Saw that forecast!

Oh my goodness!!! Yuck!!

I spent the day digging out most of my David Austins. They all died from the flooding. I haven't got them all out yet.... It is very sad. Some of them I did know their names so they will be hard to replace..... as I said I had two Beverly's in that same section. For information purposes, one died and the other one is still going.... don't know how long it will live..... The older Beverly is the one that made it... the younger one died along with the the David Austins. It is ironic because the older Beverly sat longer and in deeper water..... but for some reason it handled it better. As I am digging, I notice a foul odor from the ground. I am not sure if that is from the brackish water, or from decaying roots.

My load of horse manure showed up, After I get the Austins out, I will pile it deep and high. I think I may let that section sit fallow for a year.... or at least until spring. Hopefully the manure will break down and give me some good dirt there.

I also lost all of my old garden roses. Not sure I will replace those.

I lost all but five HT's..... I feel roseless.....

I have someone coming over to look at everything. I am so overwhelmed. I think I need to raise a bed. I think for the HT's if I keep them where I have them I will have to cut back and give each rose a raised bed instead of a whole raised bed for the HT's, because if I raise the whole thing the water coming off the roof will be forced into the patio.... I need the water to be able to pass and go out into the yard. But I don't know how big each "personal" bed should be for a rose. The roses I get are normally on fortunina and they put their roots out not down, so if they are contained will they be unhappy?

Oh, Sharon. How heartbreaking. I do hope you can work some magic here. I wish Dr. Manners could pitch in. I wonder if pots could work.

That made me so sad. I’m so sorry you are

dealing with that.

I am so sorry to hear that Sharon. If there any roses I can root for you I would be happy to try next spring.

I am so sorry to hear that you lost so many. Maybe pot up all of the ones you can not build the individual raised bed? I know that it is not an ideal garden look but many people in Asia that dealing with monsoon season do. So, they can move those pots away from water when it rains non stop.

I think Lek's pot idea is a good one. But, I hope you can find the best solution.

Thats so horrible that you lost so many. I really think you should try to move inland a little if at all possible. I think this type of flooding is only going to get worse along the coastlines. I am not directly on the coast (Jax area) but we get flooding from a river channel when it rains a lot or the storm surge occurs from hurricanes etc. We are debating if we are going to even stay in Florida or just move inland somewhere like Ocala (horse country) which is more towards the middle of the state.