Planning and planting the roses in my garden has been more therapeutic than I could ever imagine
While sitting with my father in the hospital during the last few weeks of his illness, I spent hours quietly reading plant and seed catalogs while he slept.
To put it mildly, those catalogs were my emotional life preserver, preventing me from drowning in a sea of despair.
It was during this time that I felt the powerful desire to create my new garden with the sole purpose of giving me as much joy as possible.
I decided to order any plant that I’ve ever wanted to try. I didn’t care if they were borderline hardy in my new zone, or if I didn’t have much experience with them. I didn’t care what the shipping charges were.
They were my antidepressants, and I desperately needed them.
After all, just the act of planting a sparse bare-root rose is an act of faith in the future, and all the hope it holds.
I needed all the hope those scraggly little plants represented.
Fast forward five years and my garden has flourished.
Sure, there’s been some failures, but at least it was fun (and more importantly, distracting) to try new things.
Every time I marvel at one of these new successes (like the ‘Sheffield Pink’ mums I recently wrote about, or those fabulous Foxtail Lillies!), I’m reminded that no matter how hard life seems, the only way to survive is to take things one step at a time.
And before you know it, you’ll find yourself inhaling the heady scent of a rose once again.
Speaking of roses – for whatever reason, I grew a little tired of them in my last garden. But in my new garden they have been, by far, some of my favorite additions.
During those long hours in the hospital, there was something mesmerizing about the David Austin catalog I held in my hands.
I studied every rose on every page, imaging what it might look like in my new garden.
I couldn’t wait for them to arrive in the mail!
When ordering roses from a catalog, I’ll warn you – they’ll arrive looking less than inspirational!
It’s imperative you follow the planting directions included.
The first step is to soak the root ball in water for several hours to rehydrate those poor little dried-out roots.
Since I wasn’t ready to plant the roses right away, I prepped an oversized container for their new home for a month or so (see below.)
When planting in the ground or container, use high-quality soil and mound it in the center.
The reason for this is to not only support the root ball, but more importantly to eliminate any air pockets (which leads to dried out roots – not good!)
Rest the root ball on the mound of soil, gently spread its roots out, and cover with soil.
Water thoroughly, and within a few weeks you’ll notice teeny tiny buds start to swell. From there, just sit back and watch the magic happen!
Since some of my favorite colors fall into the orange family (some of my favorites are here), I chose roses with peachy, apricot, and yellow tones.
The largest rose, planted along my wrought iron fence is climbing ‘Lady of Shallot’ (left and below.)
The magenta vine (below) is a centradenia floribunda (Spanish Shawl) which is amazing, from Annie’s Annuals.
It’s evergreen in my garden, and flowers for months at a time, without wilting or suffering from crispy foliage from our intense summer heat. A winner, for sure.
Next to ‘Lady Shallot’ is a 4’x4′ ‘Port Sunlight’ (left), placed so different shades of apricot and orange from both roses can intermingle.
Both of these roses are from David Austin Roses.
‘Tamora’ rose (also from David Austin) is another of my favorites, starting out in very soft peach tones then opening up to a light yellow.
I’ll warn you – this particular variety has a hefty amount of thorns on the stems. But to make up for it, the stems are quite sturdy which helps it stand up better in arrangements.
Planted in two nearby containers are ‘Roald Dahl’ roses, purchased from David Austin.
They’re perfect for growing in large pots, as they grow to a compact 3’x3′.
And just like the catalog says, they are mighty, pumping out soft peachy blooms that face to a soft yellow, month after month after month.
A rose I planted in honor of my father is another David Austin variety called ‘The Lark Ascending.’
It’s a vigorous shrub rose, reaching 8-feet in my garden.
Lightly fragrant, this rose produces tons of clusters of soft apricot and yellow roses throughout the entire summer.
Deviating from the apricot-peach tones, is another tidy 3×3 rose – ‘Jubilee Celebration’ (below)
Even though it’s pink, I just had to try this one for the scent alone, and WOW – it doesn’t disappoint.
But besides the heavenly old-rose fragrance, the pink color ties into the next rose that lives a few feet beyond – my trusty old friend ‘Spring Song’.
‘Spring Song’, has journeyed with me from my first home in San Luis Obispo, to Los Altos, and now to Granite Bay.
To celebrate my very first mother’s day (25 years ago!) I bought this little rose in a quart-sized container at my favorite place in Cambria – Sharon Lovejoy’s Heart’s Ease. Do any of you remember that shop?
Oh, how I loved spending time in that magical place.
Over the decades, this little rose grew into a stunning 4×4 shrub, and before we moved up to Granite Bay, we were able to transplant half of it. Why half?
Well, my husband tried to dig the entire thing up to take with us, but accidentally cut its root ball in half.
I thought all was lost as I watched it wilt and pathetically limp along in its container.
Boy, was I wrong! It loves living in its new garden and rewards me with blooms year-round.
In fact, it was just yesterday (January!) that I took this photo.
And while it’s wonderful to have a few blooms in January, it’s crucial that a rose has some downtime to rejuvenate itself before spring arrives.
And finally, I wanted to include a few favorite and reliable roses from my previous garden.
The ‘Fourth of July’ climbing rose is one of my favorites, with its wildly striped red, yellow, and cream flowers.
It’s a heavy bloomer, starting in May and lasting through the first frost.
And, as a bonus, it has beautiful light orange rose hips in the winter!
Scrambling along my fence was the MOST beautiful climbing ‘Sally Holmes’ rose.
The soft apricot buds open to a creamy white, single-petal rose.
This rose produces hundreds of roses throughout the long growing season, and is very disease resistant, too. The price for its abundant blooms, however, is the lack of fragrance.
Oh well, you can’t have everything!
‘Climbing Eden’ grew along another fence in my garden (also from David Austin.)
Each rose is quite heavy and full, causing it to hang down a bit from its sheer weight.
This is the perfect rose to plant along an arbor, where you can easily peer up into the rose as you pass under.
And the scent? Absolutely divine, with heady old-world rose fragrance that perfumes the air.
This rose, ‘Playboy’, was actually growing in my mother’s garden.
I wanted to include it here, though, because if you’re into hot colors, this rose is for you!
In shades of bright orange, dark pink, and golden yellow, it looks like a glowing sunset across the garden.
Plus, it handles our intensely hot summers really, really well.
And finally, I want to end with one of my favorite roses ever – this mystery variety passed along from a family friend who took a cutting from an abandoned cemetery.
It’s the first to bloom in my garden with the most fragrant blooms ever.
If anyone has an idea of what it might be, please let me know!
I thought I would include this rose-pruning video I recently made for Garden Design.
I tried to show exactly how and where to make your cuts, and if you hang in there ’til the end, there’s a handy-dandy non-pruning related garden tip! 😉
22 Comments
Hello, Rebecca.
I’ve only just discovered this lovely, inspirational post and had to leave a comment. I felt sad yet strangely uplifted after reading your words. The photos, too, are delightful. So, in a nutshell, this post has helped me to finally decide which rose I need to add the finishing touch (well, for now…) to my garden here in England: Lady of Shalott. She positively glows in your photos, and seems to arch most gracefully. Thank you. And I wonder if you ever found out the name of your mystery rose…
Hello Janey, and thank you for the kind comment (and welcome to my blog!) You will absolutely LOVE Lady of Shalott – it’s almost December and it’s putting on yet another show for me. Alas, I’ve never found out the name of that mystery rose. Have a beautiful holiday season!
You must order David Austin’s Mary Rose! The fragrance is like none other. Wonderful!
Thanks for the recommendation, Mary – I’ll put it on my list! 🙂
I just learned about this blog as I was looking for ideas to revitalize my 30 year old garden. I found Rebecca’s book at the library and learned so much. I would love some suggestions for pink roses that are not too big but hardy for my garden that is just south of San Francisco. I have tried many over the years and my garden is rather hot and some have failed to retain their color and thrive. I do love David Austin roses. Thanks, Holly
Hi Holly and welcome to my blog! And I’m so glad my book helped you, too. Have you tried David Austin’s Jubilee Celebration? I have it in my garden and it’s one of my very favorites. My preferred colors tend to be apricots & peaches, but this pink is so stunning I just had to have it. It survives in my HOT garden and reblooms throughout the summer. In fact, I have 3 fat buds on it right now – in December!!! https://www.davidaustinroses.com/products/jubilee-celebration
Gorgeous!
Thank you! 🙂
Oh gosh, how did I miss this wonderful, in so many ways, post? It’s now March in NE Alabama and definitely time to be cutting back roses.
I postponed reading lots of blog postings due to two eye surgeries in December – first one to successfully close a macular hole in the back of the eye and the second one a week later because the retina had detached. That was a traumatic, invasive surgery that included inserting silicone oil into the eye to hold the retina in place. Next up will be surgery to remove the oil, hopefully in April, that will be much less traumatic and invasive. (Sure, tell that to my body when they start putting in the drops to dilate the eye for surgery – my mind might be calm but the body knows what’s coming!) Vision has improved a great deal already so hoping for the best. This all followed three, yes three, cataract surgeries last winter, giving me 5 eye surgeries in one year. So ready to be done with all this but SO GRATEFUL that so much progress has been made in dealing with these vision issues.
Thanks for the coupon – now I’ll have to try to beat the deadline and order my first David Austin roses!
Oh, Barbara! I can’t even imagine what you’ve been going through! FIVE eye surgeries? That sounds just so, so awful and I pray your vision comes back 100%. I thought I had it bad with 6 surgeries with my breast cancer/mastectomy/reconstruction but quite honestly I think yours sound even worse. I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all of that. I sure hope you treated yourself to some fantastic roses from David Austin – you deserve them, that’s for sure! Sending you lots of big hugs. xoxo
Going through treatment, I’m enjoying the newly arrived David Austin Rose Catalog as well. Hope for the future is necessary! Thanks for your latest Harmony in the Garden Rebecca!
Hello Maia, and I think of you often, hoping you’re hanging in there with all you have going on with your health. I pray the catalogs give you as much hope as they did for me, and let your mind wander a bit into the future. Sending you big hugs!
Heart Ease was at its best when Sharon Lovejoy was there. It’s hard to grow David Austin roses in Cambria, but I try my best. Love your blog.
Wasn’t it wonderful, Darlene? It definitely formed the basis of the type of gardener that I am today and I’ll be forever grateful to Sharon for her gift of Hearts Ease. Thanks and I wish you the best of luck with your roses!
Oh Rebecca, it is so good to hear from you. You have been to H and back. Thanks to beautiful pictures of roses you survived. Gardening has saved many of us our sanity. I had my pots on the patio when I needed something to dig in. We use what is available. Your garden must be beautiful now. Hope I get to see it sometime. Keep posting your lovely pieces, I for one love them. My good news is I am going into my fifth year in remission. Love you Rebecca. Kick up your heels and enjoy life. Love and Hugs, Jean
Hello Jean – how wonderful to hear from you! And congratulations on your fifth year of remission (me, too! If we were here together we could toast #5!) I hope you’re enjoying life down there and miss seeing your happy face!
Creating gardens and sharing space for wild things does help us
heal our hearts.
So wonderful to see more David Austin English Roses! I have four that I bought many years ago. Only one variety has been less than ideal with regard to disease (prone to black spot – not supposed to be!), but it still flowers beautifully. This year I am adding a few ‘Sally Holmes’ climbers to the garden too, as the bees just love them and they will look lovely with the deep pink, soft butter yellow and delicate peach of theEnglish roses.
Thank you so much for the coupon. I’ll definitely take a look at new varities!
Thank you, Ronnie, and I’m happy you’ll be ordering some Sally Holmes. I had a HUGE one along my fence in my last garden and miss it so much – it just bloomed and bloomed for months on end. I came ‘this’ close to ordering it, choosing the other ones instead. I have limited space for climbing roses so Sally had to take a back seat for now.
Thank you for beautiful writing and sharing your garden stories – your post today is lovely and inspiring.
You’re so welcome, Stacy. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Rebecca, I loved your post so much! Planning a garden during an especially difficult and sad period is something I know about. You described it so well.
Your roses are fantastic. If you have room for one more, please try David Austin’s “Just Joey”. It’s my favorite rose! We have several in Carmel, CA, maybe not too far from you. It makes enormous, blousy blooms that are wonderfully fragrant…. The color changes and mellows as each flower ages, from a vivid apricot/orange into apricot/pinks and golds and yellows. I add Just Joey anytime I have a spot big enough for her.
Thank you again for your great post.
Thank you, Nancy, I’m so glad my post resonated with you. I completely forgot about ‘Joey’! My husband used to love that rose (admitting that he mainly liked it because it was a guy’s name – ha!) You’re so right – I need to add it to my collection! Thanks for the reminder.