Pruning back roses and putting down roots
I pruned my rose bushes this weekend, and stripped them bare. They look so vulnerable now, and I’m remembering with wistfulness their fragrant beauty.
It’s an act of faith, this paring back. But it promotes deeper roots, and encourages branching.
It also speaks to me of possibilities. And you know what that means: a trip to the garden nursery!
Meet Oprah’s Legend, the newest resident of Chez Shore. For now, she’s a just a rootball with a few thorny canes…
fresh from a leisurely soak in epsom salts, bare roots exposed.
Over the next few months, she’ll plant herself deep in the earth. In due time, she’ll become a leafy beauty. When she reaches her full potential, she’ll be a sweet-fragranced, “ruffled whopper of a show-stopper” according to the grower, with epic 8″ blooms and “petals as big as a child’s palm.” That’s not just catalog hyperbole, mind you. A trustworthy gardener confirmed it for me.
Courtesy of Weeks Growers
Hurry up, spring! This, I’ve gotta see.