As I mentioned in November, I’ve spent the winter acting my butt off. I’m currently in rehearsals for my last show of the season (Vanities with
Wyoming Players) and itching to GET DIRTY! I think that will happen this weekend. I plan on starting off the gardening season with the Herculean task of moving a very large and well-established rosebush.
I’ve raved about my Terese Bugnet’s vigor and scent, but I have become terminally annoyed with the annual intrusion of prickly canes into the stairs leading from the deck to the yard. I’ve tried pruning, cautiously the first year and recklessly the second, but I cannot escape the fact that the rose is simply planted too close to the deck and stairs. Luckily a prime space has opened up just a few feet away…
The deck was built in an odd shape to accommodate a red maple (visible in the left side of
this photo). The tree must have been much loved by a prior homeowner. Sadly it succumbed to cicadas and Tim chopped it down for me last Fall (2005). I stuck a potted saucer magnolia in the dirt for the winter, but plan on permanently moving the rose here. The magnolia will be planted where the rose presently is. (Switcheroo!)
Advantages:
1. The rose will get more room, sunlight, and air movement.
2. The stairs will be passable during the summer!
3. The roses will scent the dining area. (We put our little outdoor table in the cut-off corner of the deck.)
4. The magnolia, once it grows up, will shade the deck. Right now, after the sun clears the house, the deck is blasted with light and heat from late morning to early afternoon.
Disadvantages:
1. I’ll be moving a very large and prickly bush.
2. The rose may die.
3. I will get very muddy.
I really don’t mind getting dirty and the rose is not rare (i.e. it’s replaceable), so I’m going to give it a go this weekend. Despite the certainty that I will be cursing and bleeding, I’m looking forward to it!
Labels: deck, magnolia, rose, terese bugnet, transplant
The first rose of the season belongs to Terese Bugnet. She’s a truly indomitable rose. She tolerates part shade and still blooms heavily. She is undaunted by late frosts, drought, and browsing deer. When I had to move her last spring, I ended up dividing her in the process. I planted the three largest portions in the yard and potted up two smaller pieces for friends. My divisions are all preparing to bloom their fool heads off, so I hope the gifted divisions are doing just as well.
