I'm digging out 4 of my roses (all given to me via Freecycle, I just had to dig 'em up) as I don't really care for them (I don't like the "single" type roses). One I know for sure is a playboy as it still had a tag on it stating such, but the others I really don't have an idea. So, I'm gonna give them to a friend of mine who has 5 acres and no major plants to speak of so I have room for the incoming roses that I *do* want. So, I'm being nice, but in an altruistic way.

:D Gotta make room for Midnight Blue & Sir John Betjeman! Plus I have all the roses coming in from Palatine... oh boy. Hole city!

Yep, I have had to do that a few times, hate it but when you have limited space, you have to decide what you love and can't live without and what you wished you could keep but it's not a favorite so can move on.
At least you found a home for them.

Yay!! Got notification from USPS that my order from Burlington is here! w007!!11! Can't wait!! I made a bit of room in the front flowerbed, but I know I have to make even more room. So when I get home, I gotta dig out that Playboy immediately. That's where I'm going to put that International Herald Tribune.

I've been the recipient of so many of Sue's "cast-offs" that I'm almost happy she doesn't have enough room.

Toni, the ones from Burlington might have to live in pots for a while. They're usually pretty small.

Actually, they're just a wee bit smaller than the ones I got from Charlene w/the co-op and I'm a bad bad rose mom.. I am very Darwinian. If the rose is going to make it, then it's going to make it. If it's not, then it's not. And, with me & pots, the rose has a 100% better chance going into the ground than in a pot... dogs knock over pots, squirrels dig out pots, I forget to water pots, etc etc etc. If the baby is in the ground, then when I water, it'll get watered. I just wish I'd done that last year with all the little babies I got from Heirloom rather than potting them for the winter... it was a total waste of money. None of them made it. I just wish I'd known that John's Miniature Roses was part of Heirloom... I'm hoping to have better luck with them than with the Heirloom roses. Besides, almost 100% of these new babies are going in my front flower bed that I watch over 4-6 times a day (twice in the morning, right as I get home, after I let dogs out, after I eat, and sometimes I take a walk at night & stop. Like I can see anything when it's pitch dark outside, but habit). :)

And Zuzu - you must have acreage in order to have as many roses as you do! I can't comprehend how or where I'm shoving all my roses in the ground that I've got coming in, plus what I'll end up buying this year from local vendors (big boxes & nurseries). 1500 .. wow. I'm still in awe.

I only have half an acre, but I cram everything in. Beth, my hmf idol, has over 1700 and only one-third of an acre.

http://www.helpmefind.com/gard...

ok, enough! You gonna make me either move to California or Texas! And you're gonna make me cry. I could only DREAM!!!

*sigh* oh well.

I still have more canaries than the both of you combined (I think). HA!

I can't speak for Beth, but I have no canaries at all, so there's a good chance you're right.

Skiekitty, Keep growing roses and dreaming! Really. Because good dreams can take you in good directions. And maybe you'll have a chance to grow roses someplace more to your liking. Alternatively, maybe your roses will help you feel a sense of your own place where you are. As I know you are finding out, a self-built rose garden can provide a powerful and gratifying connection to a place.

I also realize that some of us derive much more pleasure from acquiring new roses and designing them into the garden than we do just watching the garden grow and tending it. So more space seems better. I've been there. All I can advise is to get a camera and take photos. And maybe take up another hobby that takes you into the neighboring countryside - something like hiking or biking. These, too, help us connect with where we are.

And finally, as you dream about living somewhere else, try and carefully assess what it is that you want. Not just out of your roses, but out of your life. Don't take for granted things in your life that you now have. For example, when we bought this house we imposed the banana principle. Houses 40 miles out from Prescott cost about 2/3 what houses near town cost per square foot. But you had to drive 20 minutes each way to the grocery store. Out of bananas? There goes 40 minutes of your life. That's not what we wanted. Ironically, we don't go out very often. But when we do, we find it's really nice to have a grocery store, an Indian restaurant, and a Kinkos just 5 minutes away. It's just an example.

Well, I did some major work today. I installed my waterfall/pond (two ponds, one is a waterfalling pond, the other is a big stationary pond.. but, it's odd shaped, so I don't really call it anything but the ponds) and got that area almost ready to put in my new roses! Yay!

I went to Paulino's Gardens today. Today was the first day they had their roses for sale. 3gal fiberpots for $26.99. Can't beat it! However, I was on an extremely tight budget as I was going to the bird store after that (getting a new canary today), so I had to limit my purchases. So, I got some delphiniums, a Lion's Head Japanese maple, and only 1 rose. I really really really wanted Pope John Paul, but it doesn't look like anyone locally is going to carry it, so I had to rethink my entire pond area. I was planning on putting the 6 Sterling Silvers in a row behind the ponds, with the Pope John Paul in the center w/3 Sterling Silvers on either side. Since no one has it this year, I had to decide what else to do. So, I (mentally, and ended up physically) shoved the ponds over closer to the fence line and will put the Sterling Silvers in a circle with the Lions Head Japanese Maple (http://davesgarden.com/guides/...), and then put the delphiniums all over the place. I'll get a Hall's Honeysuckle and put that along the fence so that I'll have a white climber there, and maybe a blue clematis or two.

That said & done, I came home & got to work. And work, I did. lots of it. Moved probably about 3-3.5 tons of dirt (equivalent of 5 wheelbarrows) making the hole for the ponds, putting in the ponds, and then putting the dirt back in and around so that they settle good once their filled. By that time, I was exhausted (as I was watering, too). Decided that DH was taking me out to dinner (Country Buffet!!) as I hadn't eaten yet (and this was about 3:30pm). After dinner, went to a different home depot (see http://cubits.org/roses/thread...) and rummaged around their roses (again). Found another Sterling Silver (I'm addicted!), plus a Fragrant Cloud in the $9.96 roses, plus a Henry Fonda & a Wild Blue Yonder in the $22.99 roses. So, I got to find room for those guys, too. However, as I was watering the front yard this afternoon, I was noticing a lot of space where I have 4-6' between roses w/nothing there, so I think I'll plant some more roses in those empty spots. :biggrin: Where there's a will, there's a way!

I'm hoping to get the rest of the pond area done by this upcoming weekend. I have to install about 100 wallbricks, then finish moving another 4-5 tons of dirt around.

Anyone got a big handsome Viking to help me?

Cool! The water feature is on my to do list.

Please avoid doing what I did when I dug one of my ponds. I did it on a day when my son was at school and all of my neighbors were at work. I dug the pond all in one day, and it was big -- rectangular, about 10' x 20' and 4 1/2' deep. Well, I'm not very tall and I realized at the end that I couldn't get out. It never occurred to me to bring a ladder down into the hole (although I did bring my cigarettes and a lighter, because I know a thing or two about the essentials). I had to dig even deeper for some soil to make some steps so that I could get out. They came in handy as ledges for containers of water plants later, though, so I'm actually glad I made that mistake.

Great advice! Sounds like something I would do.

Funny, though, the metaphor for that seems to be "When you've dug yourself into a hole too deep to get out of, keep digging."

Zuzu - LOL! OMG, I actually LOL at that one.

My pond feature is pretty simple, actually. Last year, I had a company calculate as to how much dirt I would have to have brought in to cover a small part of my yard (23'x13') 2ft deep. The guy stated I needed 13 tons. He then told me to figure that a ton is about the size of a bathtub, so, when I thought about it, sure, OK, that sounds about right. I paid them to bring in some great topsoil (this stuff is nice topsoil) and away we went.

They brought in a large dumptruck and piled a pile of dirt that was longer than my husband's xB and taller than the car as well. This was a MOUNTAIN.

Now, I've moved dirt & rock before.. worst thing I've done was help my F-I-L move 11 tons of river rock in about 3 hours. However, I knew that 1) this was way more than 13 tons and 2) this was a job WAY too big for me to handle. So, I ended up hiring a guy w/a Bobcat to come & move the dirt. He did so, in about 3 hours (8am to about 11am). He piled & piled and piled and piled and piled right where I wanted the dirt to go. Then he STILL had more dirt, so he piled a small second pile next to the area rather than putting more dirt on the already huge mound. Uh, that doesn't work well for me, but he couldn't really dig it back up because then he would have run over a small tree I had planted (didn't really expect to have to hire a bobcat). So, now I have about 4 extra tons of dirt that need to be moved, still. I couldn't do a heck of a lot last year as, when it wasn't raining, I was trying to get the front yard done, and then it was raining, so I couldn't really work in mud. Well, I *could* have, but didn't want to.

Now that the weather's finally settled into a more of a dry-type of weather, now I'm able to work. Yesterday, I did put both ponds in. But the problem is that this isn't hard-packed soil, this is very .. fluffy? soil that sinks whenever my fat butt walks on it. So I'm having to move regularly so I don't create massive divots with my big-ol' feet. One pond is only 5'x3'x2' at it's deepest, that's the waterfall type. The other one is about 7'x5'x3' and, honestly, is shaped .. odd. I'm hoping to get most of everything done today and then I'll take pictures.

zuzu, you must have perfect soil as well as a perfect climate to be able to dig an entire pond in one day. Or you are super strong. It can take a day (and lot of cussing from the bf) to plant a couple of roses here if you hit rocks. There is one spot in my garden that I filled a hole with water and it was still full the next morning. Should have put a little pond there.

No more zone envy for me this season, it was too hot the past couple of days, upper eighties and dripping with humidity. The rain is cooling it off a bit today. It is a good day to plant more of my seeds and winter sown plants, as soon as a couple of people return phone calls. I'll hang out here until then.

Andi - Zuzu has everything perfect. That's why she has so many glorious roses all year. Not fair. But, she does pay the price with being in California and having almost everything illegal or taxed, or both! :D

I have to admit this was almost 20 years ago, when I hadn't even reached 50 yet. It would take me a lot longer today.

There are no big rocks here. This is agricultural country. I have to buy rocks to put around my flower beds. I run into a lot of tree roots when I dig, but no rocks.