In the Garden — Roses

Don Juan RoseI lived in Texas for a few years.  First time that I didn’t have a fulltime job and I put some of my newfound leisure time into growing roses.  They required a lot of care but rewarded me with blooms of loveliness.

But not here in Perfect.  It’s one of the few plants that have defeated me. 

Too humid?  Too hot?  Same weather in Houston and the roses were glorious.  After my first failure of about a dozen plants in a sunny spot along the seawall, I blamed our limestone and sand soil here in Old Homosassa and created an entirely new bed in a different sunny place, replacing all the soil with a mixture recommended from a rose website.  They still didn’t perform and slowly withered.

The only rose I’ve had any success with is the climber, Don Juan.  And only after I was digging up some rose failures and I stopped long enough to shake my spade at the two  Don Juans to threaten them with the same fate.  Suddenly they started growing and blooming.  Yippee!

Don Juan RoseDon Juan RoseDon Juan RoseI even get the occasional rose that is bud vase worthy!

Don Juan

 Sometimes you just gotta use tough love! 

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