As everyone knows, my growing season here is very short. That means when places are finally selling potted roses, it's a frenzy. Seriously. In the middle of April, a LGS has their "Night of Wine & Roses", but all the customers seem to understand that it's actually the "Night of the Running Little Old Ladies" as it's a serious shopping frenzy. Almost as bad as a bloodfest with sharks. I've actually seen shouting matches between people for buying all of 1 rose (sometimes Tagawas will have only like 10 of a particular rose) and not sharing with everyone else. This year has been the worst in my personal memory for a short season.. usually the Big Boxes start carrying roses in the middle/late April, but this year, they FINALLY got them in yesterday (May 5). And what makes it worse is that Mother's day is on Sunday, so everyone's out trying to find good roses for their mama's. Nothing wrong with that.

So, when I know that roses are finally in stock, I call it going out on the Hunt. I'm Hunting for roses, and I won't be happy until I get some! LOL! Last night, I ended up at 2 different Home Depots & 2 different Lowes. I have coupons for Home Depot stating buy 2, get 1 free and I see that Lowes has roses 2 for $10. So, because I snagged a flyer for Lowes, I was able to get my HD roses for $5/ea. First HD I went to, nothing. All they had was Gold Medal, Mister Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth, Peace, and a couple of others. That was IT. Talk about pathetic. First Lowes I went to, I managed to snag 6 roses (at $5/ea): Lavender Simplicity (yes, a J&P bleh), Hot Tamale, a NICE Mr. Lincoln, Outrageous, Cinco de Mayo (mine didn't make it again.. maybe it just won't survive zone 5?), and 1 other I can't remember. So I went home, happy that I got SOME roses. Made a quick dinner and decided that DH needed to be drug along for the next hunt. So we went to our local Lowes in town, but nothing. All they had was lots of Montezumas, White Simplicity, and Gene Boerner, plus some others. This Lowes also had the Walking on Sunshine, but they were in HORRIBLE shape, so I didn't want to chance it. So, with a semi-heavy heart, we went to our local HD. They had 5 pallets of roses right before their doors, so we parked & I started my search. Gold Medal, Mr. Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth.. boring!! So I figured that that was it.. nothing else. I wanted to check out their annuals (can almost put them in this weekend!), and when I glanced over to where the trees are in their corral, saw about another 20 pallets of roses. Jackpot! Moseyed over and snabbed 4 Sterling Silvers (gee, who'd a thought?), an Intrigue, and a Voodoo. Was wandering around with their shrubs and picked up 2 more lilacs, too! Then, went inside to pay. I had my flier from Lowes showing the price of 2 for $10.. so I got all my roses for $5/ea! Yay!

When I get off work today (Fridays I work only until 2pm), I'll be hitting Tagawas to buy my M-I-L a couple of hanging baskets (I've bought her roses 3 years in a row.. and 3 years in a row she killed 'em) for mother's day. And I'll also be hitting a HD on the way home, 'cuz I still have my flier from Lowes stating $5/ea PLUS my coupon for buy 2, get 1 free!

EDIT: Rose I couldn't remember the name? Gypsy.

I was at Home Depot today - not actually shopping for roses, but of course had to take a look - they had absolutely nothing but Knockout roses, lots of them but no others. Our store is obviously inferior!

Mostly our local Lowes has Knockout roses. But Pascali, MAAB, and Camelot were on sale for $5 per gallon. So I picked up a few. They are pretty well developed. Some canes are broken, but the roses are further along than I expect most of the bare root roses I planted this spring to be at the end of the season. Some of the own root roses won't get there in three or four years. So it seems like a good deal since these roses are at least on my long list.

I also went to Lowes this PM and took a look at the rose situation - pretty sad. They had mostly Knockouts too but the only other roses were what they called "patio" roses and I would have called tree roses. I saw an Iceberg and something pink with no label. That was IT!

Picked up 2 more Sterling Silvers.. went to 2 different Home Depots again today and a Lowes. I think that because we got our initial shipment of roses so late that all the super cool roses are already shopped out as almost every single store has the same exact plants. Last year, every store had different plants (that's how I managed to get so many different ones so quickly). I'll be hitting 1 more HD tomorrow (last of the "good" Home Depots) and then going up to Paulino's Gardens (they have like 300 varieties of roses). I technically/biologically am not a "mother", but I am a mama to the cats & dogs, so DH will be picking me up an early Mother's day rose for me tomorrow (so I can be planting half the day on Sunday).

Tally for today: 3. Went to the best HD in town.. and they had just the boring selection that everyone else in town has! WTH! What I came up with as an excuse as to why everyone has such crappy selections is that because our weather stayed cold for so long, distributors didn't want to send any roses out this way for fear of freezing, so we ended up getting the leftovers that were left after everyone else in teh nation got all the goodstuff. But that's just a theory of mine.

Went to Paulino's Gardens today. Wow. Talk about a selection. I went there with the goal of getting a Honey Sweet. Unfortunately, they didn't have that one. I finally got to sniff a White Licorice.. and it really really does smell like licorice! So I'm excited for mine (got leaves on it finally, mine was a dried out GVR from last month). Wandered all through their roses (two others I wanted to get: Pope John Paul & Pat Austin they didn't carry) looking for something to grab my attention. Ended up getting a Ebb Tide (gee, imagine ME getting another blue rose??) and a Firefighter (2nd time's a charm.. mine got lost in the back when I planted everything too late & they all got dried out & nasty). So that was a somewhat successful hunt.

This afternoon, had to go to the Big R store, which is a redneckin' feed store. I love Big R.. I could get into SOOO much trouble there. I have two little chickens, White Silkie Bantams, and I needed chicken food for them (well, chick food). As I drove up to the store, I noticed that they had all these rose bushes in big 3gal containers in front. So, I went inside & asked how much they were. $15.29. For 3gal containers? WOW. Ended up picking up a Easy Does It. Thought about getting a Crimson Bouquet, too, but have to watch my budget.

So a rosealicious day for me.

Good for you !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like fun!

About those chickens... are there zoning ordinances or anything that address keeping chickens?
I've been tempted to try it but I worry about the neighbors, DW, and the foxes & coyotes. I've been thinking about a design for a cage that might protect them from the latter; but I haven't figured out how to overcome all the possible objections.

Backyard chickens are allowed in the D-metro. Heck, here in Parker, you can keep a horse in your backyard. I'm not sure about cows, but I know horses & goats are allowed.. and definitely chickens. You'd have to check your ordinances and your covenant (if you're covenant controlled).

There are special "stealth" coops designed to look like playhouses, trash cans, etc. especially offered for your situation. (You just need to choose a quiet breed of hen.)

Steve, google "chicken tractor" and you'll see some creative chicken coops. I also have a coyote problem, and really would like to have some guineas for organic grasshopper control. As long as you don't have roosters, chickens are not too objectionable in the city.

ugh. I'm tired, filthy, and burnt. Temps today were in the mid-80s and I don't like using sunblock. So my arms, face, lips, and the small of my back (from where the shirt rides up when I bend over) is slightly toasted. It was a good rose day (other than putting poor baby Wolfgang down). I went through my west side of the back yard and found a LOT more dead than I thought... lost both of my South Africa back there, plus my Peter Mayle (it was a very weak rose when I put it in the ground). I put the Lavender Simplicity in the spot where I had lost one of my Blue Girls, Outrageous went in one of the South Africa's spots, Hot Tamale went in the other South Africa's spot. Gypsy went in Peter Mayle's spot (I may try him again), and then just put a Sterling Silver in a spot just 'cuz I liked it in that spot.. plus weeded (got thistles again.. bleh!) and put in some agastaches (take note: do not buy big agastaches.. buy them small. Big one die. Little ones grow up & survive.). Then, on the east side of the yard, along side my fenceline & in front of my pond area, I took note of which mums survived & which did not (4 out of 5 did not). So I put the other left-over Sterling Silvers in the places where the mums were (the only survivor got placed where I had lost a mum in my pond area). Took note of the itty-bitty babies I got from Burling.. both Silk Hats & Double Features, which were these teensy little babies, are still very green and starting to think about putting out leaf-"pimples". Yay! In the front, I'm going to put my pathetic little Golden Princess in a spot that I lost a echnacea (I have NO luck with those) and need to figure out where I'm going to put the other roses. Oh, I have space,... that's NOT the problem. I have lots of space. Just have to envision where they need to go. Concreted in my arbor over where Freyja is laying and I have Purple Splash in place ready to climb up it. I think I'll move my Harlequin into the other side so I can have those two conflicting up the arbor. Looks like I lost my sweetgum tree.. maybe I'll put a maple in it's spot.

Just spent 20 minutes washing my hair (it's almost down to my butt) free of sticks & dirt (have to wash it 2-3 times to get it degrimed) and now ready for bed. I'm tired.

I think Purple Splash and Harlequin will be gorgeous together.

Did your lost South Africas come from Palatine?

Toni I admire your decisiveness. I leave dead-looking roses in place for months "just in case". A couple have actually come back, but they usually are sickly forever after.

PPal - You have the weather where you can "wait & see". I did that my first year, and lost an entire growing season to a few roses that just never ever came back. But what I do is pull back the mulch all the way (and the dirt) to the bud union. If it's brown/black all the way, I yank it. If it's green, I give it 2 weeks. If no leaves pop out within those 2 weeks, I yank it. I have just a finite time to be putting things in the ground before it's too hot & dry (June/July/August) or too close to a killing frost, so they have to get established before (Sept/Oct/Nov). So, honestly, the safest time for me to plant is only April/May, if I'm lucky.

Zuzu - No, that's my mistake. LOL. These were a grab-bag off of eBay.. I won't be ordering any more plants from anyone there unless I've done business with them in the past AND they've sent me good roses in the past. And, as of yet, I'm battin' almost a 1000 with that. Of course, this was before I knew about Palatine. It's on my list for 2012 (South Africa & Summer Song).

Cindi, thanks for the hint on chicken houses. It's a great resource. I like the one with the KFC picture of Col. Sanders. I also love the rolling cage idea that allows chickens to be repositioned over any spot in the garden and still be safely beneath screen. I might try to design one that looks like a bird house of some sort. Or like those fake bolders that they use at zoos.

That's the spirit!

ooh Steve I love the rolling bird house idea! We thought about doing one on wheels that looked like a little cottage playhouse. The birdhouse would be appropriate in a twisted way. Another idea would be a big green wooden John Deere tractor with roosts inside.

A real honest to goodness chicken tractor! The engineer in me wants to make it complicated, though, with little buttons they could peck on to get the thing to move about the yard under its own power. I guess the chickens would have to do this from the driver's seat.

Need a cheap way to get big wheels, though.

Try craigslist or freecycle. There should be a place that recycles large tires. But I'd just use plywood.