Several weeks ago, my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday. He said it ought to be something special, because 50 is a milestone. We talked it over, and he suggested it might be time to start planting the roses I've been dreaming of growing for a long, long time. Years ago, before we were even close to being able to buy a house, I signed up to receive David Austin English rose catalogs. Every time I got one, I'd spend hours poring over it and hoping one day I'd be able to place an order.
Well, now we have a home of our own, and a garden, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate turning 50!
The initial plan was to order three roses, because that's how many we have room for in the spot I picked, but after giving it some thought, I decided it would be better to start with one and then later (maybe next year) add two more. That will give me the opportunity to focus all my attention on my "birthday" rose, since this is new gardening territory for me.
It took two weeks, but I finally picked the variety I wanted and placed my order. That was on Tuesday of last week, and on Friday my rose arrived! When I got home from work Gregg had already prepared the bed by digging up and moving the banana plants that were in the spot--hard work, and I was so happy he got it done for me! The next day, Saturday, we were able to plant.
Behold my newest "pet"...a bare root shrub rose called "Eustacia Vye":
It doesn't look like much now, but I have high hopes!
