We have many plants that are imminent bloom. The buds are expanding. You can see tinges of color poking through the sepals. I would like to write about all of them, but I rarely get around to taking pictures. I did however take some nice pictures of these “Susie Green” Rambling Roses from last year. So I will write about them.
My stepmother, Rose Payne shared them for the garden that she and my father, Jerry Payne, have in Western Bibb County, Ga.. Rose’s parents had owned the property before them. Her mother, Susie Green, had planted it there a long time ago. The property had once been rich farmland but by the time Rose’s parents had purchased it, almost all of the topsoil had washed away due to poor farming practices. Rose and my father have worked very hard to improve the land, but it takes centuries to rebuild topsoil, not decades. The area where the rose was growing is almost pure clay. It is wet and sticky in the winter and hard as a brick in the summer. Yet, the rose thrives and produces numerous blooms every year. As you can see, they vary in form and color on the same plant. Rose shared cuttings with me from her mother’s rose many years ago. It also thrives in the dry sands of Coosaw Island. Rose’s mother never sprayed, neither Rose nor my Dad have sprayed it. I have never sprayed it.
Deer eat roses, but they can only eat what they can reach. It is a rambler .Protect the base and let it climb out of their reach.. You don’t use a a trellis, or let it climb on the roof of a shed, in an old tree or in a thick hedge. Cut a third of the oldest canes out after it blooms for best performance.
We grow a few other carefree roses as well, both the native Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris) as well and a few other heirlooms that we found in old gardens and abandoned home-sites. We only have a few of each. So come get them while they are available. We are in the nursery today, but might have to run out for a few errands. I will post on facebook when we leave today. Call ahead if you are coming from far off to make sure.. (New cell is (843) 592-8150.. Office (843) 525-9454.
P. S. If you have pictures of plants that you have purchased from us in your garden, please send us some so that we can let others know about our plants. Thank you and Happy Gardening!