OMG! I am still digging and potting up patented roses and it's almost June! I think I have about 10 left. Problem this time of the year is that each weeknight there seems to be either soccer or baseball to attend after work. Oh well, I'll get it done eventually.

Lots of new roses coming in. I am very impressed with the quality of the roses from Ashdown West. I wish Cliff had even more i could buy. I have 4 bands coming in today from Rogue Valley. I do not like to buy bands this late in the spring since it is so hard to get them ready for the winter, but there were a few that i could only get there, and the shipping cost for anything larger than a band is just too much.

Speaking of new roses, while at Great Lakes Roses last month I spotted some BEAUTIFUL plants in the "not for sale" section. Upon inspecting these they turned out to be HT's from Vintage Gardens that had to be at least 3 years old. Knowing that the owners are not fond of HT roses I asked why they had them there. It seems that someone they knew purchased these and then became ill and could not take care of them. I was told that they would be for sale in the next week or two since the gentleman has decided he cannot take care of these in the near future, and they will give me first refusal on any of the roses. $25 each, to be donated to the charity of the original owners choice. I bought 4 on the spot;
Admiral Rodney
Blanche Mallerin
Sight Saver
Touch of Venus

Each of these was well worth the $25, and the size is unbelieveable! I really lucked out.


By the way, as I offered before, anyone in the Detroit area wishing for some free roses please let me know. I still have quite a few potted up and in my misting section staying nice and moist to make sure they do not go into shock from being transplanted.

Well, I started removing patented roses from my gardens this past few weeks. Just gave about 25 as a donation to a local church. I still have lots to remove. Anyone in the SE Michigan area reading this should drop me an email if they would like a few free roses....

Roses look like they came through winter pretty well. Already have lots of new growth on some of my tender HT's. Even Gray Pearl and Brandy made it through with flying colors! These were in their pots from last summer, and just buried in a mixture of wood chips and ground up leaves. I still have about 10 to uncover but I already see new growth on those.

Put a plea on one of the rose forums for a rose called "Plum Crazy". I now have two being shipped to me, which is great since the only place it is available is in California. This is a jack Christensen rose, and i am trying to acquire as many of his roses as possible. They seem to grow real well for me, but some just do not stay on he market too long. I blame this on J&P, but I could be mistaken. I've also put pleas out there for unrooted cuttings of Lucille Ball, and am happy to say I have had some positive responses. I realize this is still under patent, but when the company holding the patent does not offer the rose, I fell no remorse regarding trying to acquire.

Well, it's cold now! Went out about 11:00pm last night just to look around, and I must have had 10 rabbits chewing on my canes. If I could only convince my wife to try rabbit stew......

All roses that I feel need it are protected now, and baits set for mice/voles. I am getting some flowers on the babies in the basement, which is nice to see. Some of my Moonrise cuttings taken from the breeder last summer (Dr. Tom McMillan) are blooming machines. I hope they bloom this well once they are placed in the garden.

Speaking of Dr. McMillan, I really enjoy his roses! I have started an entire garden just for roses hybridized by him, and they are all doing very well. For those unfamiliar with him, he breeds roses for exhibition. Some of the roses that he has bred include Affirm, Rejoice, Cajun Spice and his newest, which is called Bright Delight. This last one was awarded a bronze in 2005 from the ARS trials in Louisiana. He has bred more, but they are not in commerce. He lives real close to me, so I just happen to wonder by and grab a few cuttings when I see one I like. Last summer he was getting ready to throw a plant out because he just did not feel it was exhibition worthy. I thought it looked great, and took some cuttings. I named the rooted cuttings "McMillans Reject" and am waiting for the first blooms to appear next summer. Rejoice, by the way, is considered the #1 exhibition Grandiflora. If you can find it, I would suggest giving it a try. Wisconsin Roses sells this as a maiden, and Rogue Valley Roses has this as an own root band.

Back to my cuttings, I am seeing a lot of growth on my newest cuttings from Univ Cal-Davis. I started these around mid October. No blooms yet, but lots of new growth. Off the top of my head, some of the roses I got include Merci, Kentucky Derby, Jennifer Hart, Tribute and Razzle Dazzle. These are sent as unrooted cuttings and are VID. The only one that has given me problems in rooting is Summer Fashion. Out of the 10 cuttings I have purchased so far, only 4 rooted, and of that, only 1 made it long enough to pot up into a gallon container. I bought 5 during the summer (4 took), and 5 again in October (0 took). I will try again this summer and do some experimenting to see why I am having such difficulties with just this one plant.

This weekend I will start my annual hunt for cool/unusual florist roses. I will buy these from the florist, root and then test in the garden. Why? Because I enjoy getting these to root, and then finding out if it will actually grow outside. I'll post here what I find and how long it takes to root.

Signing off....

Well, I have been asked by the admin to start a journal, so I will jot down a few items as I find time.....

Still applying protection to some of my more tender roses. Dropped 1 yard of mulch around my Tea's today, but this is the last year I think I will do this. I made my point that I could grow these in Michigan, but they are not doing much for me. The difference in size from mine here to the ones I see down south are astronomical! Blooms seem a lot smaller here also.

I am also protecting my newly rooted florist roses from earlier this year. I buy poultry fencing in 3' X 25' sections, and then cut these so they are 3' wide X 18" in height. I then fill with cyprus or ceder mulch. that way when I remove the protection in mid April, all I have to do is spread the mulch around, and I do not have to remove.

Some of the younger rooted plants have been moved to the basement under lights since I do not believe they are ready to face the outside world yet. One of these, "Gardens of the World" (HT, Christensen) was sent to me as unrooted cuttings in late August. I also have newly rooted plants such as Eskimo (HT, Kordes), Attache (HT, Tantau) and Konfetti (HT, Tantau) under the lights. These are all florist roses I bought straight from the local shops and rooted. Konfetti is also planted outside from lastyears' rootings, and did very well. I really like Tantau roses, and wish they were more available here in the U.S.

Still above freezing today. We have had only 3 days of highs below 32 degrees.

P.S. I also need to add some mouse baits around the protected roses. I learned that the heard way by losing quite a few newer roses that the mice/voles had a field day on last year.