Yesterday, I planted several miniature roses for a border for our new waterfall. Included in the minis are grocery store-bought unknowns, plus Leslie and Karina. Also moved Anita's Apricot Fantasy to join the border because it was not getting enough sun where it was.

Prepared the holes with bone meal and steer compost. Nice showers today so it was a good time to plant. Still have to find a home for Minnie Pearl and Texas.

Several of my cuttings are taking off and I'll need to find places to plant those soon, including three from my bouquet for our 10th wedding anniversary.

Pegged one of the long canes of Madame Isaac Pereire to try something different this year.

All of the other roses are doing well, beginning to bring out new leaves, with the exception of Heirloom, which is barely showing signs of life at this time.

My husband scrumped a rose from an abandoned house (with owner's permission) so I'll be anxious to see what color it is.

Earlier in the week, on a rare non-windy day, I sprayed the roses again. Lots of caterpillars this year, coming from the nearby oak trees.

I also fertilized the roses with Osmocote 14-14-14, a slow-release fertilizer. I need to find a resource where I can get in it in larger quantities than at Walmart or Home Depot.

Minis Black Jade and Texas are continuing to add new growth. I should be receiving a replacement for Leslie next week, plus Baby Darling.

I added two new roses, Climbing Pinkie and Pearl Essence, and started a rose cutting from Old Blush, a rose from my sister. Also, I "rose rustled" a couple of cuttings from two roses from an old, vacant rental property, one of which has been partially pulled out of the ground. I just can't stand to see roses die from neglect or malice. The mini Leslie did not survive, and I'm hoping for a replacement soon.

Yesterday, we harvested our first "crop" of worm castings from our worm box. I mixed about a coffee can full of this "worm gold" into the soil under most of our roses. Unfortunately, I ran out of castings before I got to all of them, but hope to make a second harvest soon to finish the job. It is amazing how dark and rich these castings are compared to aged cow manure. Since we're on a septic system, the worms do us an additional service by eating food scraps that would have ended up in the garbage disposal.

Scentsational has gone to the Great Rose Garden in the sky, and Leslie isn't looking too great, but hanging in there. I notified Tiny Petals about Scentsational and was assured I would get credit or a new rose, my choice. However, this company is not as prompt with email as it should be.

All other roses (with the exception of a couple) are doing great, have numerous buds and, if the sun ever comes out again this week, we'll have our first blooms.