Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Crazy World of Roses...


Its time to prune the roses! They shred your arms. Its a fun time. I pruned back my own roses and they will hopefully come back with a little love. My late uncle, to whom planted them, is looking down and smiling upon them. They hadn't been pruned for at least six years. As you could imagine there was a lot of dead wood. Some were pruned to an inch of their lives. I exceedingly implore I haven't completely botched them up.

Although I believe it is hard to botch up 'rose pruning'. I was pruning some roses the other day with another person. We both pruned correctly, however I was probably a little tentative at the beginning. The other was a vigorous pruner who always gets great results. I have seen, makes me shudder to think it (let alone write it), motorised hedge clippers 'prune' roses and surprisingly enough, the roses bounce back...crazy little plant!

I am not a rose fan. I have, unfortunately, come to the realisation that they are a tough plant and can grow absolutely anywhere. I like the old roses. The roses, you can see the stamens. I find their skeletal frames ugly and their thorns hideous. My mother, however, loves her roses and I am trying to appreciate them for her. The second photo above is from my parent's garden. Gorgeous colour! I certainly find pleasure in the wondrous colours they come in.

It does worry me that Sir Cliff Richard has a rose...and Barbara Streisand...is that the ultimate Kudos? To have a rose named after you? (I thought it was if you were invited to be a voice on the Simpson's)

Pruning them is a chore though. Weeding under them is challenging! I make sure I am wearing a flannelet shirt for such occasions...


Roses are here to stay, I do realise this. I also realise, that over the next few years, when our summers get hotter, gardeners will be looking at the species that survive. What plant will be be affront of this? Roses. I like Camellias better visually, but I know, in the future Camellias will be fazed out. They don't have the same staying power as roses. Our Camellias were fried in February and the roses which haven't been pruned for six plus years were fine.

So this is my relenting ode to roses. *Sigh*

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