True silver lining to sad event

10 years ago

This summer about 2 months ago we had to take out a 80 ft tall, 50 ft wide, 80 year old scarlet oak tree from our front yard. Its main cane was rotten 3/4 of the way through (I saw pics of it after they took it down) about 20 feet up. Well, of course all of the roses (mostly teas and chinas) and other plants which lived in our front garden were used to sun from Jan through May, and then very dark shade from June through Oct, when the deciduous oak would drop its leaves.

I have been observing what the plants did when plunged from full shade into 8 hours of direct summer Calif. sun in one day. Of course, 1/3 of the lawn died in shock, but it is coming back gradually. Among the roses, most just sort of froze at first "WHAT HAPPENED?!". It is now 2 months since the tree came down, and I just walked around the roses. The china roses (I have 3 Cramoisi Superiors) recovered first, and are all in very heavy full bloom right now. The tea roses have woken up, and are starting to bloom and grow again - of course, they like full sun, but were in "the sun will come out in Oct..." mode when this happened, and it took them a while to adjust. No scorched leaves on anybody. I was happy to see that my Jeri Jennings, which had been languishing in shade (from other bushes, along with the tree - my fault) for several years, and putting out maybe 2 blooms a year, has woken up and it growing, and acting like a rose bush (see pic below - taken today). Lastly, my The Rose of Many Names is blooming again, happily (pic below - taken today). So, I am very excited about having roses blooming all summer now. We kept the tree stump at about 6 feet tall, and got an arbor thingy my DH is going to put on/above it, and then we are going to plant some climbing roses on it. Makes me a bit less sad about losing that beautiful tree.

Jackie

Jeri Jenings:

The Rose of Many Names:

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jacqueline9CA
Original Author

10 years ago

The roses which will go on the arbor are:

1) A Dawson't Apple Blossom, which we had to dig up - it was previously growing (slowly - but it had made about 8 feet in 4 years - not bad for being in full shade all summer) on the tree trunk. We have another one which we inherited with the garden - it is an old fashioned rambler - that one is growing 15 feet up our crab apple tree - I love it.

2) The tea rose (prior to 1900, Cl tea or tea noisette) 'Ley's Perpetual' (soft yellow).

3) Not sure - I have a mystery rose in a pot which I rescued from a place where a new building is going - it is red - might be Don Juan - might be a climber. I am waiting for it to get bigger to see what it does in its pot.

Jackie

P.S. Here is another pic of my happy roses - the two I mentioned, next to a very happy Cramoisi Superior, with the tea rose Dr. Joseph Schwartz (partially reverted to Duchesse de Brabant) in the background - just took this pic.

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Comments (8)

boncrow66
10 years ago
It is sad to lose a very old and mature tree, I love my huge trees. But it is also great that your roses are doing so good! Both pics of your roses are so pretty and they look happy to be basking in the sun shine. The arbor over the tree stump sounds like it is going to be very pretty with the climbing roses. Have you decided which roses you will grow on the arbor?
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jacqueline9CA
Original Author
10 years ago
I forgot to mention - in the background of the last pic you can see our neighbor's house, and if you look closely, the huge tree stump of our lost oak tree. That is where the arbor will go, and so you will not be able to see that house anymore.

Jackie
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
10 years ago
That is quite a silver lining! I really like The Rose of Many Names very much; that's my kind of rose. I imagine it will now, along with the others, just keep getting bigger and more beautiful. It says a lot about our difference in climate that you don't even have scorched leaves. After a few days of 100+ heat everything is baked here, although so far, except for a lot of deadwood, nothing has actually died except the roses I've yanked out, although Miss Atwood is thinking about it. She's the next on to have the soil worked a little bit to loosen it and a new ring build around her.
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
10 years ago
Except for about one week, we have been having a lovely summer with high temps in the 80s.

Jackie
Rosefolly z5
10 years ago
Sorry for the loss of your tree. Oaks are such glorious trees. But I am glad you have this compensation.

And you could, if you so wished, plant another for future generations to enjoy.
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
10 years ago
We actually have the exact same tree growing in our back yard (also on the lot line - my DH's ancestors liked to plant large trees right next to the neighbors). Also, my DH's sister and her husband have one - I dug up a seedling and gave it to them, because their house is actually on one acre. So, the tree goes on.

Jackie
Anne Zone 7a Northern CA
10 years ago
It is hard losing a tree like that and I'm glad you are getting some benefit from it. My Cramoisi Superior is languishing, perhaps more sun is in order for it also.