Roses. <sigh>.

I will grant that: 1) a well-maintained plant can be semi-attractive, 2) one could find the sheer variety of blossom shapes and colors intriguing, and 3) yes, they can even produce beautiful flowers. But why do these plants require so much effort? Back in 2001, when we bought our house, the back yard had several rose plants. Today, our yard bears virtually no resemblance to what was there when we bought the house. We’ve completely replaced the fence, installed a new sprinkler system, removed multiple trees, added raised beds, realigned and replanted the beds and grass, put in a new patio and walkways, and more. And for some reason, through all of this transformation, we have preserved and transplanted most of the original rose plants. We’ve even added two or three plants that were given to us by friends and family! But why? Every few weeks throughout the spring and summer, Jen is out there spraying various soap solutions and sprays on these plants to fight off fungal infections, diseases, and pests. (Check out this still-under-construction master list of rose problems: Rose Problems and Diseases.) And then there’s the seasonal pruning and winterization effort. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t particularly enjoy any of it. And truth be told, we almost never pick the flowers, which is not to say we don’t occasionally notice them in the yard, but it is to say that our enjoyment-to-effort ratio is probably lower than it could be.

So what to do? Well, this might be the last season for roses in our yard. All the roses are currently growing on one side of a raised bed, and the rest of the bed is a hodgepodge of dahlias, marigolds, gerber daisies, and geraniums. We’re trying to decide what we’d like to grow in that bed instead of flowers… or at least instead of roses. Pretty as it is, this may be the last summer a rose blossom like the one above is seen in our yard.

This entry was posted by Steve on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Photo, Yard/Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.