Yesterday after the inagural stonesoup agm I went home and sprayed the roses. And I weeded. And I wondered Why do I really like growing roses?
First up, they have beautiful flowers, which often have a fabulous scent. I can get lots of different colours too. And just to make me really impressed, they have a lot of flowers over a long time frame. They grow big and bushy very quickly, therefore making the garden look full and well established.
SeCdly, there is lots to do with roses. I spray mine fortnightly with a fantastic witches brew of nitrosol, baking soda, thrive, rose spray, sprayfix and water. It makes me feel like a chemist measuring out all the ingredients in a particular order, stirring and filtering and spraying. In winter there is pruning. I used to worry about pruning, but these days I know if I get it wrong and a: cut too much off, they will grow back or b: don't cut enough off, I can cut more off anytime. And I can fertilise and water them and mulch them. You can probably imagine that I have huge roses... I like the formulaic approach to roses. If I do what I am supposed to fairly reguarly I get excellent results. It is a busy, no thinking hobby, quite different from the rest of my life. I like knowing what I am supposed to be doing sometimes!
When you are limited to tiny temporary gardens, which military gardeners are, roses are a magnificant thing.
And to top it all off, when you are posted to a new house, you can dig them up and take them with you.
Perfect!
Posted by Toni at September 15, 2003 09:15 AM