Senior Moments

Roses on our dining room table. September 21, 2008.

I’ve been growing roses for over 25 years.  I started growing roses when I lived in North Carolina.  The only time I haven’t had roses during those years is when I lived in South Carolina and the first couple of years I lived in Tennessee.

While I was in North Carolina I was of course much younger.  And even though I was teaching full time,  I think I had more time to devote to roses.  For several years I grew test roses for Jackson & Perkins (very interesting since I never knew what roses I would get in any year) and at one point I had over 100 roses in our yard.

I don’t have nearly that many roses now and I no longer grow test roses.  But I  do have enough roses that I can continue a habit I started back in North Carolina —  I try to bring in a fresh rose bud each morning.  There are some mornings when I can’t find one to bring in, but at other times we’ll have several roses on our dining room table.

I have to admit that I try to sneak the roses in while Betsy is not looking.  Meanie that I am, I like to see how long it is before she notices them.  But I’m glad Betsy enjoys our roses as much as I do.  So  I guess I’ll just continue to bring in a rose a day.

Roses in our large rose bed. Fairfield Glade, Tennessee.

Betsy and I have been growing roses here in the Glade since 2005, two years after we moved here. We started with seven rose bushes in a flower bed we had constructed along the side of the house.

The roses were pretty that first year and we added more in 2006. But it soon became apparent that there wasn’t enough direct sunlight on the side of the house for roses to do their best. So we started moving the roses to the front of the house. The front of the house has plenty of direct sunlight, but the soil is not that great. After all we do live on a slope on the Plateau, so there are plenty of rocks and boulders under a thin layer of soil.

In 2007 we finished moving all the roses to the front of the house, making the beds as we went along. We finished with a large rose bed on one side of the driveway and a smaller rose bed on the other side.

Since we ran out of room to expand the beds, this year we added some roses in containers on the sides of the driveway.

We’ve persevered in spite of late spring freezes (2007) and summer droughts (2007 and 2008). This year we’ve had 34 different varieties of roses in bloom.

Roses can be a lot of work, but we think they are definitly worth it. Click HERE to see if you agree!

Tahitian Sunset Rose, Fairfield Glade, August 16, 2008.

As I’ve mentioned several times, Betsy and I grow roses here on the Plateau.  It’s been quite an experience.  I’ve grown roses at three other homes I’ve had, but it never got to be quite so ‘interesting’.

One problem we had was that our first rose bed was too shady.  So we moved the roses from the side of the house to the front.  That got the roses into sunlight, but the soil in front is about an inch deep.  Below that are rocks, rocks and more rocks.

But in spite of the difficulties we have 32 roses in two beds — one on each side of the driveway.  And since there are more irresistible roses than we have places for in those beds, we also have six roses in containers on the sides of the driveway.  I’ve never grown container roses before, so it has been a new experience for me.

The rose above, Tahitian Sunset, is one of the container roses.  It got a late start this season, but I think it has come along very nicely.  Roses may be a great deal of work, but we definitely think they are worth it.