finally . . . roses

Finally . . . I have some roses.  The first flush was very pitiful, but the second bloom, although still minimal, is at least more promising.

These are pink ‘Knock Out’ roses, supposedly very hardy, and will grow anywhere.

I was first impressed with these roses when I saw them planted in front of a Wendy’s fast food restaurant on a busy main street in Columbus by the bus stop.  They received absolutely no care, no fertilizer, no pruning, and no extra watering.  Any yet they flourished . . . blooming all summer, all the way into October.  People threw their trash in the bushes and stepped on them, and they never seemed to mind.   But, they haven’t done so well for me, even with pampering.

I love simple roses.  I tend to prefer my flowers in single petal form.   These have both single blooms and clusters of blooms.

The majority of my roses are this variety, and as I’m typing this, I realized that all my rose bushes are some shade of pink.  Boring . . . I know . . . but I happen to love pink flowers.

I would love to grow the romantic David Austin roses that are the ultimate in beautiful roses.  But, if I can’t even keep the basic roses looking good, I’m not sure I can grow David Austin roses.  I did buy one once (a pink one), and it started dying almost the minute I put it in the ground.  I’ve decided not to put any more money into roses until I do more research over the winter on them, and figure out why they don’t flourish for me, and what I need to do to remedy that.

There is nothing as lovely as a rose.