I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

In the beginning...

The title of this page is from that beautiful song by Lynn Anderson entitled Rose Garden.   But this page is not about her song, it is about my rose garden.  I have always liked roses.  I am particularly fond of the roses with the high-centered or urn shaped flowers.  These include the floribunda, grandiflora, and hybrid tea roses.  2026 will be the year of the roses at The Condo.

When we purchased the condo, in October of 2020, the plantings around the front walk were mostly large shrubs.  They typically had a short flowering season, so the space was boring for most of the summer.  The shrub on the left corner had grown so large that it was blocking much of the view from the dining room window.   Also, there was a gap in the planting area on the left side of the walkway.  The gap was covered by lawn.  So, one by one I began pulling the shrubs and replacing them with smaller plant materials.  My favorite plants include hosta, hydrangea, Rose of Sharon (hibiscus), and roses.  Two years ago, I bought a package of 85 spring bulbs including, Crocus, hyacinth, daffodils, and a few tulips.  This year both the hyacinths and daffodils have been very health.

The shrubs are gone!

As you can see from the latest photos, all of the large shrubs have been removed.  As has the gap in the planting area to the left of the walk.  On the right side, along the garage, I have a dense patch of Chinese Iris.  The new trellis is just beyond those.  There is a dense patch of daffodils near the walk and  I just planted the red and the white climbing roses just in front of the trellis.   I had to transplant a giant leaf hosta which was where the climbing roses are now.  Beyond the trellis are several varieties of variegated hosta and what was a bonsai.  That bonsai has grown out to be a very nice cypress pine.

To the left of the walk is very different than it was in 2020.  The first six fee or so had no significant plantings.  The foundation plants there now are two white azaleas with a dwarf arborvitae between them.  You will also notice a ton of bulbs planted there, including crocus, hyacinths, and more daffodils.   What was the gap with lawn is now home to two Rose of Sharon, a hydrangea, and two dark green hosta.   It appears that the two Rose of Sharom did not survie our colder than usual winter.  We are right at the northern edge of their range.   The giant leaf hosta that was removed to make room for the trellis, is now directly under the dining room windows.

The Rose Garden

We will be planting four roses this season.  Last year we had a single rose in the beautiful urn by the front door.  That rose did not survive the winter.  So, we purchased a replacement and planted that yesterday.   One of the last of the large shrubs that were here when we purchased the condo has finally been removed  It had grown to the point that it was blocking the dining room window.  In it's place, we have planted a yellow rose tree, called the Julia Child rose tree.  It has a tall central stalk with a yellow floribunda rose grafted at the top.  It can grow up to four feet tall and should be a prolific bloomer until the first frost.  The big addition this season is a white trellis that will have white and red climbing roses attached.  The trellis is 39"inches wide and about six feet tall.  It will eventually contain alternating rows of red and white roses.  Unfortunately, it necessitates the transplanting of a giant leaf hosta and several clusters of daffodils.

Why all this focus on roses and flower boxes and the like?  A small part of it is from my childhood.  For nine years, I worked on a fruit farm near home.  But the larger reason is my way of dealing with the grieving process.  It would be so easy to lay around the condo constantly dealing with my loss.  But I don't want that and neither would she.  So I am trying to put my energy into flowers, woodworking, cooking, and family.  Hopefully, my neighbors will get some enjoyment out of my efforts.

The Flower Boxes

Last summer I built five flower boxes that are attach to the railing on my rear deck.  I felt that I over planted the boxes last year, so this year I am scaling back to just four plants per box.   I have chosen African Daisy's, marigolds, Dahlia's, and some unidentified  small flowering succulent.  I headed to Lowe's (my middle daughter has worked there for 20 years) and picked out some nice healthy plants and some outdoor potting soil.  Everything is in place and it looks great.  I am sure that it will fill in as the summer progresses.  Boy, was that an understatement.  The African Daisy's are thriving to the point that they are taking over the box.