Friday thing : resilient rose
With thanks [again] to my mother-in-law
Back when I was a young, innocent first-time homeowner/hopeful gardener and the Internet was new, I ordered flowers online. Mostly bulbs, though I couldn’t help but get myself a rose bush also. I chose the Queen Elizabeth variety, 90% because of the name1 to be honest but it’s also pretty hardy.
I dutifully planted all of the tulips & daffodils2 when they arrived but I was uncertain where I wanted the rose to go. It wasn’t really a bush as much as a “tall shrub” so I needed to find a place that would best accommodate its growth, which would likely include a trellis. So it stayed dormant in its bag in the garage.
…for a year. Then we decided to move. As we were packing, every person helping us picked up the plastic bag and, if they didn’t just head toward the garbage, asked if it was coming with us. I always answered Yes, to increasingly skeptical looks.
When we arrived at our new home and were unpacking, the same thing happened again but this time, I knew where I wanted to plant my Queen. I took the admittedly shabby-looking plastic bag and set it on the side of our house, where it patiently waited for another month before my mother-in-law offered to plant it one afternoon.
We hadn’t yet bought a trellis, which is a good thing because the sight of a barren, black stick poking out of the ground in front of such a serious & grand garden apparatus would have been ridiculous. As it was, there were a lot of sideways glances and maybe a snicker. But Sam & I were hopeful.
I’m not sure how long it took but eventually we were rewarded with a single vibrant & fragrant pink bloom. Through the next 27 springs, that rose grew tall & full enough to warrant the trellis we finally bought; every year my husband cut the first flower for me.
As we were preparing to move this year, I was anxious to find the perfect place yet worried we would have to leave without the rose as the best times to transplant are fall or early spring, before new growth; it looked like our timeline might not match up.
Still, on our final day at the old house, Stu carefully dug up & potted our Queen. We gave her lots of water + time in the sun before moving her under a tree on the new deck for some respite. I’m not sure we’ll get any blooms this year, but we’re okay waiting.
We’re just glad to have her here with us.
“Stephanie” does mean ‘crowned one’ FYI
Though I would find out the following spring that bulbs do whatever tf they want underground, and squirrels add to the garden chaos
I’m glad she is with us