I’ve coddled two climbing roses for almost 5 years, now, and have been rewarded with about as many blooms. I almost gave up on them, truth be told, because they don’t didn’t seem all that happy in my backyard. But they’re finally taking off: arching outward and growing taller. We’re growing on each other, you might say. Behold the Zephirine Drouhin–a bright spot of color in the pelting rain.
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.