Bare root roses

waltz time

I was putting it off for ages but finally today I got round to unpacking the bare root roses I bought in Aldi and getting them re hydrated and into the ground. Some of them were shooting, others had fine new delicate white roots sprouting. I'd say almost all look like they will be fine. Two looked a bit shook, making me feel guilty for not getting to them sooner. The longer you keep them in the bags the bigger risk of them drying out or moulding up. Fingers crossed the nice rain forecast for tomorrow will help them get back to life. Apologies to all of you hoping for a fine Friday. My weather forecaster out west, aka Mum sent me a text at 17.50 with the following update "Marie watch ur clothes the rain is here. xm". Whatever hits west usually travels this way about a few hours later. Taking no chances I brought in the clothes from the line!

very handy gadget!

Outside at the work bench everything was going great. I was well organised, I even thought of the label printer in the office and brought it out to use it! It's way better than those plastic labels they put on plants in garden centres. These are very adhesive and laminated-they stand up really well to the weather. Some people swear by them for pond plants. So away I went and soon got into a nice production line of removing the packaging, recording the variety, with eventual  height and width, printing the label, sticking it on the plant and finally putting it in a bucket of water to help it rehydrate before I put it in the ground. This was going great until suddenly the label printer printed me out a neat set of black lines instead of a name- I was out of tape!

my mothers idea of a joke cup!

These are the little problems that beset you when you have a big gardening job on, and the most typical -you run out of labels. Always bloody labels! I couldn't for the life of me think of a suitable replacement,something that would stay on the plants through wind, wear and the four seasons. It brought the whole production line to a halt. This called for a cup of tea and several biscuits! I sat munching on ginger biscuits and drinking green tea trying to come up with a solution but none came. It was, I realised, a three cup problem! (eat your heart out Sherlock Holmes).

roses ready to go

Margaret who has great timing when it comes to cups of tea chose that exact time to call. I needed to train her up to mind seedlings for me for a few days. I completely forgot all about the problem as we chatted. The most excellent Marigold hotel was discussed, Seamus (her dogs trip to the vet for blocked tear ducts) did you know there is a dog eye specialist? apparently dogs have consultants too! We took a walk outside to look at cauliflowers and discuss daffodils. We went out back to tour the seedlings and look at my other half's mad plants. She got her formal training, where to use the water hose, spray gun and long nosed watering can. By the time she hit for home and I looked up at the clock it was lunchtime! feck!

Somehow when you forget about something you often come up with the most simple solutions. I got out plant labels, big ones, punched a hole on them with a paper punch and wired them on to the roses-simple! The paper punch took a beating though, I don't think it was designed for anything thicker than paper!
I ploughed on till they were all done, took them down the garden, dug a trench and heeled them in . All I have to do now is figure out where to put them. Here's a list of what I got;

ena harkness from compare store prices

Reine Des Violette's from mooseys country garden

Ena Harkness (outstanding scent, red roses that hang their heads, climber)

Reine Des Violette's ( gorgeous old fashioned rose, violet grey, repeats well, beautiful scent, large shrub)

Mdm Alfred carriere botanica.co.uk

Paul's scarlet by Sarah Jane covey.co.uk

 Madame Alfred Carriere (vigorous climber with a fab white sweetly scented rose, very long flowering)
Paul's scarlet climber (strong rambler, masses of red flowers, slight scent, short flowering period)

galway bay from growsonyou.com

waltz time from casaegiardino.blogspot

Galway Bay (salmon pink flowers, medium scent, excellent repeat flowering, large climber)
Waltz time (Large silvery purple flowers , sweetly scented, medium sized shrub)