Yes, a year can make a lot of difference!

I started a new rose bed on a very hot July day last summer when I visited a local garden center and was introduced to THE GRANDE DAME … To read about her, click here.

She was hot, she was lonely and she promised old fashioned, fragrant blooms. I wasn’t sure where I would add her to my existing beds but got the BIG IDEA (and it is not my first big garden idea by any means) that I needed to extend the roses beyond the “garden fence.”

Let me back up and tell you that a couple of years ago I told Mr. G that I would keep all my roses inside the “garden fence” as a means of self control. I’m not sure he believed me, but I “thought” I would make good on the promise.

Then, I get involved in Twitter #RoseChat and Blog Talk Radio and hear about so many beautiful roses. It is so easy for me to succumb to rose envy.

So, enter THE GRANDE DAME and her promises … I “needed” a new bed. Did I mention how hot it was last July! As I’m sure you know, when a new bed is so new that you first have to remove the grass, that is a great deal of work. We double-dug the bed, used a tiller, added peat moss, compost, aged manure and few other great things to improve our clay soil.

It was big job but not our first! Mr. G is really the very best husband in the world and he is always up for a project!

What will I Plant….

Over the winter I spend time in my potting shed working on “The List” of all the roses I think I can’t live without. I had a blast deciding which roses I would add. Since I like all varieties of roses, this new bed (which is very close to the “garden fence”) consists of…

• 3 Grand Dames
• 3 Julia Childs
• 5 Red Drifts
• 2 Pink Drifts
• 1 Rosa Mundi
• 1 Reine des Violettes
• 1 Chrysler Imperial
• 1 Gene Boerner
• 1 Janice Kellogg
• 1 Roseraie de la Hay

…And a big combination of annual and perennial companions to show them off perfectly.

Gene Boerner

Reine des Violette

Rosa Mundi

Chrysler Imperial

In early spring…

This morning…

The other side of the garden fence…

Some are still very tiny and will need a couple of years to reach their potential but I have plenty of time.

Mr. G says it is okay that I didn’t keep the “garden fence” promise and he is very sure there are many more roses in our future. Yep, he is the B E S T!

If you wonder why I grow roses, click here.