EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES

Potted, Carpet and Climbing!

I love the fragrance of a red rose. There is nothing like it. It reminds me of old black and white movies I watched when I was a kid. And the sheer beauty of a really deep red rose. Because we are moving to drought-tolerant plants, I decided to keep at least one hybrid tea rose in a pot. Notice the top dressing of black lava rocks. This helps with retaining moisture.

Mr. Lincoln Rose — courtesy of author

I also have a carpet rose which is great. They are considered a floribunda ground cover due to their low and spreading growth habit. They cover a large area with beautiful massive blooms spring through summer into fall and require very little care or water. I have had this carpet rose for at least 6–7 years and rarely did anything to it, but this year it became infected with a pest which required me to cut it way back and remove all of the dead leaves and detritus. I guess it was overdue for this maintenance. Nevertheless, it bloomed like never before!

Red Carpet Rose — courtesy of author

We planted climbing roses over 10 years ago and they just seem to keep on blooming without much work or water also. However, this year I espaliered one to see how it would affect the bloom. It looked a little bare for…