Coping

I have turned the corner on my grief, I think. I feel more optimistic, at least. It helps that I did some stuff in the garden this weekend to try to ensure I'll have at least some of the stuff in my new place. I am having to reconcile myself to the fact that I will have to purchase a number of plants -- like all the clematis, which don't transplant well -- but I started some rose cuttings, and the roses would be the most expensive to replace. I moved pieces of my grandma's peonies, though whether they'll make it is anybody's guess, and I lifted a few hostas.

I must have had a premonition about this move, because I actually took some rose cuttings about 3 weeks ago, before we even thought we'd be able to make an offer. I was really encouraged to find that fully 80% of them have already begun to root. I am using the baggie method, which can sometimes be dicey, but since they're going to have to live in my mom's sunroom for the winter, I needed to be sure they'd have enough moisture without constant attention. The closed environment of the baggie will give them that. Here's what I rooted:

Abraham Darby
Kathryn Morley
Ambridge Rose
Sharifa Asma
The Prince
Heritage
Eglantine
Mary Rose
Falstaff

I did not take cuttings from The Pilgrim, Jacqueline DuPre, Comte du Chambord, Winchester Cathedral or Sydonie, either because they had no ripe wood, or because what they had was covered with blackspot and unlikely to survive. Jacqueline DuPre has always been miserable in my garden,stunted and stingy with bloom. Wouldn't you know it, she had a banner year this year. Grew to 2.5 feet and bloomed 3 times. Stupid plant. I am not buying her tricks, although I love her wild rose look. If she throws another bloom before frost I might be tempted to take a cutting.

The Pilgrim is one that I saw in a garden in England where it was utterly stunning -- an ethereal pale yellow with a darker center. Here it just fades to nearly white after about 30 minutes in the sun. If I got up at 5 a.m. routinely, I could see it as I remembered it from England, but I'd rather just sleep. Also it throws out 7 foot canes and then blooms right at the top, which looks dumb. I could peg it, but since I'm not all that thrilled with it, I don't bother.

The Comte is another one that has never done well in my garden. The plant itself is fine, but the blooms always ball if it's even a little wet and it is a thrips magnet. I have always considered myself lucky to get a handful of unmaimed bloom over the course of the season. Of course, it's had its best year ever in my garden, blooming often and beautifully with no balling and no thrips. Whatever. I'm leaving it behind.

Winchester Cathedral performs well, but I am just not that into white roses. It does occasionally sport to blush pink and even to bright pink (not really a sport, that. It's reverting back to Mary Rose, of which it is itself a sport). Not interesting enough to take along, though.

Sydonie I like very much. An old Damask Perpetual and tough as nails, it throws tons of bloom in the spring and sort of pegs itself -- the canes bend outward and it breaks along the length for even more bloom. Unfortunately it is awash in blackspot. I may buy this one again. It's really big, though, so I'll have to see if I have room for it at the new place.

Planning makes me feel better.