There was a plant swap Saturday. It was nice to see my online friends again and meet some new people. I have two new roses to plant - Rosa glauca and New Dawn. I would love to hear from anyone who grows either!

It looks like my roses survived the winter. I had more die back than last year. Next year, Grenada and Lagerfeld are going to be wrapped. (I had preciously used inverted tomato cages and muslin to protect all of my roses.) They don't like Pocono winters, especially the harsh, icy February and March. My other roses have plenty of leaves, but no flowers, yet.

I killed my first aphids on Friday. The game is afoot!!!

New Dawn is a very nice, smelly pink. I'm not much for pink roses so that's why I don't have it, but the few tines I've seen it at stores it's smelled heavenly. The other I've never heard of, sorry. I'm not sure if my Grenada survived.. I think it's one of my unmarked. Glad that your roses survived!!

I grow New Dawn and it does very well here - a vigorous climber. Mine just finished their spring bloom which is always the best. Our summers are so hot she fades to nearly white!

I am researching both roses. I had seen a beautiful picture of a house with climbing New Dawn and a Nelly Moser clematis.It was beautiful, too bad I don't have a classic brick house to plant New Dawn against.

Rosa glauca is a species rose hardy to zone 2b (some say, some say 4) It is sometimes called "the red leaf rose". It has single flowers with white centers and bright pink edges. It is supposed to be vigorous and fragrant. I haven't grown any species roses - until now. It sets hips as well. HMF said that it blooms on old wood. I am not sure where to put it. It is a tiny thing, so it will start in a big pot. It is much easier to move a pot than a rose.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose...

oh Red Leaf. Grows almost wild here in some older non-kept up cemetaries.

When I lived in NJ I grew both New Dawn and r. glauca. Both are definitely survivors. Sometimes the leaves of r. glauca are not so much red as green with a purplish cast, but the color looks really great with the pink single flowers. The plant is a natural for a mixed border. I had sedum autumn joy and the explorer rose Champlain growing happily in the same bed.

New Dawn can get big, fast. And it can be lanky. I grew three on a lattice against a south-facing wall and they were very happy there. Then I moved them out into the garden where they got some shade and they did just OK.

Your New Dawn is beautiful. My rose garden faces south.

I went to Lowes for some rebar to reinforce my trellis. I have quickly growing Austin roses that I am training against it. They had 10' (which I was told was too long for the vehicle, I thought that was why there was a back window on station wagons....but didn't dare say that) and 4'. I will have to find 8' rebar somewhere. I don't drive, but my friend said he will look around. I cut a scrap of red fabric and put it in my bag in case we have to do the window thing in the future. In the meantime, I added a few more short posts to keep the trellis from leaning. I have to do some weeding and pruning before doing any more planting - assuming it stops raining.

Andi - Is there a law that they can't sell you 10' rebar if it doesn't fit in your car? I used to stick things out my windows ALL the time.. trees, 2x4s, etc when I had my '06 xB. Now that I have my van, very few things do I have to stick out the back. I never heard of them not selling because it won't fit in your car.. but maybe that's a PA thing. Here, if you have the money, they'll sell it to you. Getting it home is YOUR responsibility, not theirs. LOL

Once, when DW and I bought some deck furniture we rented a U-Haul. Probably not a cost-effective solution for buying rebar or single plants, but it is way cheaper than one payment on a van. I do wish big box stores made delivery trivially easy.

They sold me the rebar, but my friend said that it was too big for the car and I had to return it. Nothing I could do, it wasn't my car. I had a terrible migraine and was having a terrible day. We still had to get groceries. I didn't get home until after 2am and still had to put the groceries away. It is lots of fun, buying groceries when you are seeing double and throwing up. I don't drive, so I am grateful that anyone is willing to drive me anywhere. I didn't want to force the issue when we were in a hurry and in bad moods. He is going to look around for other sizes of rebar or alternate supports for me. I showed him the trellis that needed support. Eventually, I will fix it.

Practically speaking, one could protect the car with old blankets or bubble wrap and tie a red flag on the part of the rebar that extended beyond the back window. It would be perfectly safe and legal to transport it on the short drive from the store to my home. As I said, it is not my car. Eight foot rebar would be sufficient to support the trellis and fit in the car. That would solve the problem.

Andi posted before I finished posting, so I'm deleting this. And talking about purdy roses. :D

Not as tall but more rigid than rebar would be T posts, if you just need something to anchor an existing structure. Just a thought...

porkpal said:Not as tall but more rigid than rebar would be T posts, if you just need something to anchor an existing structure. Just a thought...

I thought about the 8' T-posts, but those are a LOT harder to put in the ground than rebar is and with her shoulder being all messed up, I didn't want to suggest it. Unless she still has her Viking.

Are T posts those green things? We saw those at Lowe's. I have shorter ones that started to lean. I thought that the rebar could go in deeper to provide more support. Getting anything in the ground is a challenge here with the rocks. The trellis were originally anchored to wood stakes, but they are rotting. My friend asked me how I was going to reach the rebar to hammer them in when a step ladder would sink in the mud...I am going to use my heirloom Winnie the Pooh potty stool. Note, not only will he not transport said rebar, he won't help me hammer it in the ground either. No problem, I don't want my roses trampled underfoot. I have things planted so close together that it would be easy to step on a plant. I have strategically placed stepping stones to prune everything.

My friend did bring me a faster computer and a cordless phone as well as earrings that look like benzene rings. I don't mean to be ungrateful. I just wish that I could drive again. Luckily, the cortisone shot and exercises are helping the shoulder. I have to remind myself not to take on any really heavy rocks.

No viking, just Winston the pug, and he has been fixed. I keep falling for brainy guys when I should be looking for brawny ones.

Andi - Brainy is much better than brawny. Brawny guys remember digging the holes so question new plants. Brainy ones just see green thingies & don't have a clue.