Month: May 2018

Speaking of neglected roses, this one is always the first to start blooming and it’s always cheerful with the big flush early in the season.

Some kind of basic hybrid tea that was here when Mr. C bought the place, and it got no care until I moved in a couple of years later. Now it’s sharing a bed with an unexpectedly huge rosemary bush that also needs some serious pruning for shape, but it doesn’t seem to care. I think it got fed a grand total of once last year, and there’s a bunch of dead wood back in there again that nobody has managed to prune out for a few years now. Later in the season, it’s a nearly bald mess with blackspot no matter how I’ve treated that in past.

But, it just keeps plugging along, in a relatable way 🙄

I was glad those new pruning shears did show up today. That giant neglected ‘Graham Thomas’ rose is wanting to grow up into the neighbors’ steps and decking again 😧 It’s really shot up over just the past couple weeks.

I was going to try and take care of it over the weekend, but the smaller secateurs I could find really were not up to the job.

Not the only overgrown rose pruning job that didn’t get done over the winter/early spring, but the most pressing with it impinging on upstairs. At least that bush barely has stickers to snag anyone, with multiple pieces poking up though the steps 😨 Those people don’t seem to like us much already, and besides just not wanting to cause problems for the neighbors? They’ve already shown willingness to call the council without even mentioning an issue to us first.

I really don’t like waiting this late to do serious hacking back. Not particularly good for the plants. It’s not just lack of spoons, though that’s definitely the biggest factor this year. It’s also way too easy to keep putting off the pruning, waiting and hoping the roses will go properly dormant over the winter. Spoiler: they just don’t in this climate. I should know this after almost 15 years, but I still keep hoping. 🙄 And before you know it, there’s tons of fresh growth to lop off too.