Oh, Diane! I am impressed with your newly found discipline! I will happily concede the crown.

After all, I am not sure mine really is discipline as much as pure limitations of space and time. :)

Severe, it's not discipline for me, either, but a combination of lack of space, and being ancient. When you're ancient, you have more time, but you may not have the energy. I save my energy for what I absolutely have to do, and it works for me. Diane

Wow Diane! What do you do with all those hops??

I got into the habit of buying more than I had room for when I had deer that kept them eaten to the ground. They wouldn't survive more than a few seasons. After deer fencing, I was still losing some every year due to my lack of proper mulching. Once that was learned, I rarely lose a rose to winter. But, I keep buying them.

A few years ago, I added a picket fence along the driveway so I could add climbers.

Last year I added a border along the length of the patio. Since we lost the huge maple in the front, allowing more light, I'm considering a rose bed there.

I scrounged a few more places by turning my veggie garden into a cutting garden. That takes care of this year. I know I won't stop buying roses until the breeders stop breeding and the old ones can no longer be found.

Smaller roses fit in easily at the feet of naked canes or along a border. I'm increasing my border depth this year to put in a second row.

There's always the possibility of a roof top garden. Not really. Our roof is steeply pitched, but maybe that could be changed.

The excitement of new arrivals never wanes. This years additions are just as eagerly awaited as the first roses many years ago.

( photo from Self Sufficient Gardeners , posted at my local nursery Petal Pushers facebook page )

This year for the first time she is going to carry ROSES ! Uh oh ...

berrypie,

This is absolutely hillarious! LOL

Carla, for several years, my son in law, who wanted me to grow the hops, picked the hops "flowers" for his beer making. But he soon had way more than he needed. Then he stopped making beer, too, but we loved the vine which provided some shade and privacy to those sitting in a small glider on the other of the vine. One year we had a couple of noisy birds live in the hops. If you sat on the glider just a couple of feet away, the birds were totally unaware you were there. They carried on like a couple of nuts, squabbling, bickering, and crashing around in the vine. It was like living next door to a feuding couple. Then around October, we took the vine down since frost was immanent, and those birds were so confused and upset. I felt awful about it.

Berrypie, love the hilarious cartoon.

Flowers, how can you do all that without a crew of helpers? That's a lot of digging, sod cutting, and back breaking work. Because I have no helper, I am stuck with what I've got as far as flower beds. My son in law has never done that kind of work for me, and he's recovering from major surgery, so it's even more out of the question now. I hope you can show us some photos of all these new beds and expansions. If you have a cutting garden, I want to see more bouquets. I would love a cutting garden. Good luck on these projects. Diane

Sultry - Man, oh man!!! That's an incredible plant to scamper up 20-30 feet in one season!!! I love the picture...so lush!

Laura - that is it EXACTLY!!! We lose our minds when it comes to ordering roses....so well put! :) :)

Flowers - So much fun to read about how your rose garden keeps growing and growing!!! I definitely will buy more roses next year (21 this year) ... but I may need to buy some more pots. Poor husband...he takes my roses in and out of the garage for a month or two in the spring. :) :) Although we've had too much snow and cold weather to do that for the past 3 days. I love what you said....the excitement of new arrivals never wanes!!

Berrypie - that's still my favorite cartoon of all time!!! It's hysterical!!! I tried to copy it so I could show my daughters (husband has already seen it and thinks it's a riot!!), but I'm inept. LOL And, UH OH....she's going to sell roses now? Which ones? Which ones!! Yay!! Not that I can buy them...but it doesn't matter...it's still so much fun!!

Diane - awwww...that would have made me feel bad too. Now that you have the hops growing again...have any birds made a home there?

Carol, it's too early for the hops to be grown up like the photo. They are an herbaceous perennial, so they die back to the ground every year. They regrow up to the balcony (and would keep going if we let it) every spring/early summer. They grow about as fast as some of Sultry's tropical Florida plants. Only during the one year I mentioned above did birds actually live in the vine. I think some might have temporarily roosted in it a few times. They were quite entertaining. Hope you're feeling well and vertigo is staying away. Diane

I'm a dope for increasing my rose count. I can hardly prune the ones I already have. Diane, my crew was a wonderful young man who was starting a garden service and he was so teachable. He admitted he knew nothing about roses and asked questions the entire time he was here.

I was never sure how to prune my row of lilacs. He arrived one day and said he'd read everything he could find about lilacs, and promised he would make them better. He was true to his word. They were absolutely gorgeous the following year after he pruned them correctly.

His business grew and he had to take on a crew. I'm thrilled for him, but he's too busy in town to come way out here. He takes care of some very upscale properties in the historic section and schools the homeowners on rose care.

My current helper is Mr. Wonderful who has taken an interest in gardening, to my eternal gratitude, but I would still love to find another garden guy like the last one.

Carol, may we never take our men for granted!! Yours is also a treasure.

Diane, I didn't realize your son-in-law has had major surgery. I haven't been to the seasonal thread lately, so I'm really out of the loop. All good wishes and prayers for good health and a fast recovery. I'm sure he makes up for not having the gardening gene in many other ways. He cooks, and that is good enough for me. My husband had to ask how to open a can once when I was under the weather.

Why do I buy more roses? Where do I put them? Ummm yes: like the cartoon, I feel there is always more space for plants. Even when that is patently untrue, as seen by last year's plants still in pots. Last year I bought ONLY FOUR roses and ended up planting one in the shade (I was overly optimistic about the spot for sure). But! This year I gave away First Crush (thrips loved it so it never bloomed) and one of my inherited Knock Outs died. So I can buy one rose and move one rose...

But wait! I spent all winter building a huge retaining wall and filling in behind it! So I can move my shrubs from their too-small holding pen and put roses there instead, right? Surely I can find upright roses that will fit in the 18-inch strip between the driveway and the fence... Or more climbing roses...

It goes like that! I learn about amazing roses here, then do/do not find space for them. (That's what Yoda said, right? "There is no try, there is only do or do not?") Also if Roses Unlimited will send six roses in a box it is my solemn duty to buy no fewer than six roses.

LauraLG, AshleyS and Summercloud (honorable mention), 12-Step Program, Step 1, "We admitted we were powerless over roses - that our rose addition has become unmanageable."

Flowers, roof top... yes.

Berriepie, I need a copy of that comic on my credit card.

I finally got around to reading this thread and am absolutely loving it. I'm enjoying everybody's replies!

@Diane, I don't know if you've found this out yet, but if hops behave at your place like they do here, it will spread along the ground and underground, come up in places you don't want it, and prove next to impossible to remove. So, I recommend you keep an eye out! It's a wild plant here, beautiful but invasive. I know one place where there's an entire woodland overrrun--draped; smothered--with hops: sort of the Italian version of kudzu (southerners will know what I mean).

The obvious solution to all these space woes is to do what I did: move to another country and buy an old farm. The moving to another country may not be necessary. So I don't have to worry about space, but labor considerations are another story. I've been under the weather for some time, for mysterious reasons; DH is getting older--actually, he got old some time ago, though he's still active--and money has gotten short, which makes hiring my handy helper less of an option. Forunately, an ability to survive periods of neglect has been more or less consciously built in to the garden.

I haven't bought any roses to speak of for some years. I decided I needed to make hedges and in general define my garden spaces, so have been planting a lot of shrubs and trees. Also there are always a zillion mini-projects. I had around three hundred varieties of roses, and while I still want more, I can wait. Another project is to try and propagate the roses I have, so as to have doubles. Then, things come along: illness; last December's snowfall that I'll be cleaning up the breakage from all 2021; the current two months without precipitation during what's normally a wet time of year, so that we're having to water....

The garden's beautiful, though, and full of interest. And the roses are leafing out marvelously. There will be lots to admire when they come into bloom.

I know quite a bit about hops--I've grown that one for at least 10 years. I've gotten rid of a massive trumpet vine, too. Not fun, but doable. Diane

Ace! It took me a while to discover how world-dominating hops are.

Flowers, thank you--actually here on this thread was the first time I'd mentioned his surgery. I'm not big on going into details about health problems, as you know.

So you had a young, handsome garden guy helping you. Mmm, that reminds me of a very appealing gardener character in Rosamunde Pilcher's book, The Shell Seekers, which I'm reading currently. That character wanted to start his own business, too. Is Mr Wonderful another young gardening guy? Heh. Sorry. I am just jealous. Diane

I opened up a lot of spaces by listening to the wisdom of Moses. He said something like 'life is too short to grow roses you don't love'. Once I got started - that was the hardest part - I was ruthless and I've never regretted it.

Diane, unfortunately Mr. W is not a young gardening guy, but he has more stamina than I do, and that's a big plus.

Melissa, moving to Italy and buying a farm sounds adventurous and brave and frightening. Moving from Los Angeles to a rural area in eastern WA was a big enough cultural change for me. We have some of the same gardening limitations, but keep trudging along.

Flowersaremusic, I think "idiotic" better describes it, but we were lucky and things worked out well. We've enjoyed our life here, and I hope it continues for a good while to come, though I can foresee difficulties piling up. But for now, it's good.

Diane - thanks! My vertigo is there a bit. But I'm used to it now. It's become the new normal and isn't a big deal. :) I'm still waiting for my achilles tendon to get better. Sheesh!

Flowers - so true!!! They help keep our rose dreams going. :) :) Your garden guy was VERY lucky to have you teach him how to prune/take care of roses! He got a Master Gardener's education at the very least. :) :) So nice that your Mr. Wonderful likes gardening now!! Awesome!! Oh my goodness!!! A can opener?? My husband can't/won't cook...that's fine...but a can opener? LOL But then they have specialized knowledge too...I wouldn't have the first idea how to build a deck. :) :)

Summercloud - exactly!!! It's not your fault that 6 roses fit in the box! :) :)

Melissa - eek! That's scary about hops and how invasive they can be!! My husband has mentioned that we could move someplace warmer where I could garden all year. But, I know he doesn't want to. He just wants to make me happy. :) :) It's amazing though, that you have a whole farm to plant roses in!! And it sounds like you're making it work. :) :)

This is a great thread, and I've been meaning to write, but have been uber-busy. I can relate to so many of the comments,and doubt I'll be able to respond adequately.

@ Melissa-I hope you will feel better soon. We've got drought here in Tuscany, too; I pray that it will end soon. I'm watering my new implants as well; it's a shame to have to start so early with watering, especially since there is so much else to do.

@ Flowers-lucky you to have had such a perfect assistant,and it's great that now you have Mr.W. Often I think of how nice it would be to have help, but there are many difficulties involved. Economic, of course. But also, how in heck to find a person who will actually be a help rather than a hindrance? Not to mention the fact that my problems with social anxiety multiply the difficulties exponentially.

Pot ghetto-what a sore spot for me! Every year I tell myself "You have to slow down, Eileen!" Not only am I getting too old for this, I'm also getting tired of all the watering fuss that I have to go through each year with the new implants. Yet, every autumn,I seem to forget how tiresome and boring the watering will be, and put out too many new plants. I wanted to keep this year's additions down to 20 or less-wound up with 36. Not to mention the 2nd and 3rd year plants that I want to coddle since they are struggling to establish! I told myself"No new acquisitions this year!"-then, I saw Barni was offering Quicksilver-finally! a rose I've been wanting for years, only available this year in Europe! Had to get two...and, o, curses, whilst I'm at it,threw in a second Munstead Wood, (first one is struggling in a less-than-ideal spot in the garden), and a second Twilight Zone. And then, there was this exotic Japanese rose that I "have" to try, called Sheherazade...so , that's 5 more roses added on to my huge pot ghetto. Of course, I wanted the free shipping from Barni, too, and my garden needs more ceanothus,so another 3 Conchas-and those I planted out directly, since I'm not sure about cultivating them in a vase...

OK, but NEXT year I'll be good...lol!

Bart/Eileen - We all say that. LOL Next year we won't order more than 1 or 2 new roses. It never happens. :) :) Social anxieties...that can be difficult. Hopefully we'll all have a great summer and not be overtaxed by our roses. :)

Bart bart, yes, I have been fortunate with garden help. I asked for a recommendation from a local independent nursery. She pulled out a notebook and went down two pages of names, looking for someone in my area, who had their own transportation (some were teens), and who didn't charge an arm and a leg. She gave me 3 names to call. I put it off for a year until I gathered enough courage to call.

I was afraid I would get myself into a situation like a friend of mine who hired a man she couldn't get rid of. Turned out he was homeless and disturbed and she became afraid to be home when he was there. He wasn't forceful, just 'needed a place to sleep for a couple nights' that turned into weeks and months. When he suggested the space under their deck, she felt there was no harm in that for a night or two. He charmingly ingratiated himself into their lives. It became a nightmare.

Yikes! what an awful experience for your friend. But, sad to say, with all the weirdos and loonies there are running around, stuff like that IS a real risk, and I don't blame you in the least for being concerned. However it is good that the woman from the nursery was there to help you with her recommendations. Of course it's not a guarentee, but better than nothing.

Oh, wow, flowers - that just sounds awful! Maybe now I am glad that I do all my work myself. With help from the hubs, of course!

Even with no room, if I could find Mitsouko and Chandros Beauty I would grab them and make a place, even if that meant digging up lawn under the cover of darkness.

Getting a recommendation from a trusted source is safer than responding to someone who knocks on your door or leaves a flyer, with the exception of neighborhood kids who want to work for spending money. After giving the squatter many warnings, my friend had to resort to calling the police to extract him from their property.

Ohhhh, yes!!, Kristine. Mitsouko is always at the top of my list. Maybe this year.

Flowers - eeek! That's a good cautionary tale!

Kristine - you don't have Chandos Beauty yet? If you were here, I would give you a cutting.

Maybe it is one of those unicorn roses. Lol.

Thank you for your kind and generous offer Carol

Kristine - I don't know how Hortico is going to stay in business if they don't fix their site...but that's where I got my Chandos Beauty from. :)

Maybe I will just give them a call and see if they carry it.

Carol, you may already know this but I had to go to Safari search engine (from Firefox) to get on the Hortico site. Heirloom, I had to turn off my Adblock to pay. They should fix these glitches for sure.

Sheila, my cyber security guy (son in law) said I can go ahead and click on Hortico (using Firefox) to see what they are listing, but not to charge anything. So, I guess if you want to buy, do it by phone. I did check Hortico's offerings, but didn't buy. Diane

Okay, I think I can officially join this conversation. I was all set and then...Marianne is back in stock at Rogue Valley Roses. It is just so beautiful, and I've been thinking about it for so long even though it was out of stock....I just sent an email to RVR to see if they could add it to my order that's coming in 3 weeks. If they say yes, where will I put it?

@librarian_gardner_8b_pnw Just ignore the potential full size of the rose for now haha. Put in any available spot that's decent, and see over time if it earns a better spot somewhere where another one of your roses perhaps isn't measuring up. That rose looks very pretty.

You can always start with a 5 gal pot to give you more time to think about the perfect spot. She would be an asset to any garden.

@librarian_gardner_8b_pnw - I would jump at the chance and get Marianne while you can if you want it. RVR won’t let you add to a previous order and so it would have to be a new order but worth it in this case ;)

another thing you can do with hortico if you're using chrome is go to 'advanced'

click, and then 'proceed'

Obviously do so at your own risk, but to me it's easier than hopping to another browser.

Sheila - thanks....I don't know how to change search engines. And I ordered some roses from them in the fall....I just love going back and looking. :) :)

Aaron - that doesn't sound very difficult. I'll try that later.

Thanks Sheila and Aaron!

I called Hortico and left a message. Being Easter weekend I didnt expect to hear back on the Chandros Beauty. But, I will follow up.

Diane, did you by chance see Chandros Beauty listed ?

When I went on last night...I didn't see Chandos Beauty. I wonder why they didn't offer it this year?

I was going to say I'd check for you, Kristine, but Carol already has. Hortico does change it's offerings over time. They have carried Leonardo da Vinci for ages, though. Diane

Thanks for checking.

I appreciate it so much.

I’ve made a huge mistake.

This is Chianti, Cl Royal America (2), and Evelyn already getting tangled together in their second year.

jc, that is going to be FABULOUS! Show is this shot when they are blooming.

I think it looks great!

I was under the impression if they get entangled that is bad for the bush?

ive actually planted evergreen hedges along this bed so the roses will stay corralled into this area.

This whole bed, from R to L

Forsythia, Forsythia, Teasing Georgia, Gabriel Oak, Cinco de Mayo, Evelyn, Cl Royal America (2), Chianti, and Dee Lish (3)

The other side of the driveway is equally stuffed with repeats.

I think it will look gloriously romantic. Roses are "brambles" after all. They can mingle.