... before the pests arrive. I saw my first sawfly of the season yesterday. 8O

We had a very mild winter. With the aid of a rather large planter (OK, tote) and plastic rose cones, I was able to overwinter two roses with almost no dieback! I didn't even expect it to go that well. That's 2 for 2 - because I had a few other roses last summer, but they died before winter (of various reasons).

My survivors are Brindabella First Lady (left) and Easy Elegance Calypso (right).

We have buds!

I'm very excited to see these roses grow with a good head start this spring. I'm hoping they can put on a little size by the end of the year.

Also in the planter are some snapdragons, planted from seed I saved. The variety was Snapshot Rose - and they smelled beautiful! I don't know if the seedlings will be fragrant, but I wanted to find out. I also just scattered some English Daisy seed in the spaces in between. I think it might be a little too hot to grow these on my patio, but let's see what happens. I don't want to crowd the roses, but I think some additional greenery will help keep the soil from drying out too fast. (Our weather hit the low 80s Monday and Tuesday, and it was in the 90s on the sun-drenched porch!)