When I was a little girl my grandparents had wonderful across the street neighbors. At this moment I wish I had a photograph of Willie and Alice to share with you. Alas but I only have their memory in my mind. Charming Willie grew tree roses for his beloved bride. They had pink, red, yellow, and white roses. But the lavender rose was hands down, my favorite. To this day they remain my very favorite rose.
Spring Has Me Thinking About Tree Roses
As you may be aware I struggle with having anything pretty or green grow for me here in Phoenix. But roses are said to do very well in the (usually) hot desert climate.
Currently, the side entry to our home generally leaves me singing “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny Cash.
Because we live in an HOA community we are not allowed to alter the horrible brick wall. But that misplaced half dead shrub…
Yes, short work was made of that shrub leaving a blank canvas. (I also want to rip down the lovely satellite dish that the previous owners left. It’s bolted to the wall. Really well.)
It is currently rose planting time in Phoenix. (That is if it would quit hitting the freezing point every night.) I purchased two white rose trees from Home Depot for $16.00 each.
While I like the half barrel look, both wood and terra cotta are not good choices here as they dry out too quickly in the summer desert sun.
That leaves a faux cement or faux terra cotta container as a preferable pot. I found two I liked at Lowe’s but they were $49 each. For plastic. Hmph!
After cruising through several other places I finally found a pot I liked on sale at K Mart for $23.99.
How Does Your Garden Grow
For those who were curious about the garden, I planted in the fall, as I said it has been a very strange winter here in Phoenix. Temperatures have been quite cold, even dipping below freezing quite regularly. We have babied our veggies by covering them, et cetera but the crop has been less than stellar.
Here is the broccoli. A bit of a disappointment~ four bites maybe ~ not even enough for one person. We are growing everything organically so there you go.
This is the cauliflower. Nice green leafy leaves, but no tasty white cauliflower. Ditto for the peas, tomatoes, chard, etc.
We plan to plant the tree roses, have a yard sale, and attend Sweet Boy’s Arrow of Light ceremony (the Cub Scout’s highest award) this weekend. But I’ll also be dreaming of rose trees.
I’d love to hear what you’re doing this weekend.
Laura
Congrats on the Boy Scout award! That is WONDERFUL!! Can't wait to see the roses in place! I am sure they will look amazing!
Laura, it sounds like you have a busy weekend ahead of you. Congratulations to your son on the Boy Scout award! You have a wonderful space to work with. I know it will be beautiful when your roses are planted. I love how you added your touch to the brick wall. The metal pieces are perfect. I planted some knockout roses on my flower bed last year and can you believe they have already bloomed? LOL I can not believe it either. We also had a strange winter, actually, we have NOT had any winter at all. Enjoy your weekend, Laura!
Hello Laura – I love rose trees as well; they are truly are romantic. I use to suffer with finding reasonably priced pots. When living in Seattle there was a discount pot store that was a gold mine. How I missed it when we moved. I hope you will have a good weekend? As for us, I will be painting and the husband cycling. I am doing something wrong!!
All my best to you,
Deb
I have never raised tree roses, anxious to hear from you how they did. Me, I am headed to 1515 for the weekend but woke up to snow, may delay my travels!
Congrats on the boy scout award! I remember when my brother was tapped in at his troops ceremony. It was so cool to watch and though he is tight lipped about the initiation experience that occurred after the ceremony- it was a very cool experience for him too! I love those rose trees! They look so charming! I think Ill be hitting up out local farmers market this weekend and spending lots of time in the studio working on a few new items soon to be for sale in my Etsy shop!
Rose trees are gorgeous!! We love our roses here … That is our weekend plans; pruning and mulching as spring is attempting to show-up.
Roses will do really well, I love mine. Congrats to Sweet Boy, that is such an accomplishment. Hugs, Marty
Laura,
Your rose trees will add a feminine touch to your hardscape giving you yard decor to adore! You could add bee balm, black-eyed Susans, cosmos, desert marigolds, English daisies, snapdragons and sunflowers to your garden beds. They all thrive in AZ heat. Bee Balm is one of my favorites. It has a lovely fragrance and attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
Congratulations to your Sweet Boy. That is quite an honor and I'm sure well deserved.
Not sure what I will be doing this weekend. I lost an entire week due to a migraine and sinus infection. Today is the first day I can hold my head up for longer than 10 minutes.
Your Friend,
Deborah
FairfieldHouseNJ.com
Whoa, hold the phone….did you say you are having a yard sale???? oh, my hubs has to work and I have no car….can you see me pouting????
Congrats to your young man on the Cub Scout award- what an honor!
I've never grown tree roses- do you have to prune to keep them in that shape? I'm terrible at pruning. I usually end up with big holes in my bushes because I go at it way too aggressively. 😛
Hi Laura,
I love roses, any kind of roses. I'm sure yours will be beautiful!
Congratulations to your son for his Cub Scout award!
Me, I'm staying in this weekend, it's supposed to be very cold out!
Have a great weekend,
Dorothy
First congrats to Sweet Boy for the awesome award! I'm sure he worked very hard to achieve this. Roses are indeed my favorite–love peach ones! This weekend I will be working on some french beaded flowers to give my daughter this May for graduation.
Love the rose trees! I tried once and the poor thing died…..Congratulations to your boy!
I wish you well with the growing of your favorite roses, I am sure they will flourish under your care. Sounds like a great weekend. I will be wielding a paintbrush this weekend on a home decor project. Congrats to your sweet son on his honors!
I'll be cleaning the house, cooking dinner for my family and grandbabies, playing with aforesaid grandbabies, and hanging new curtains in the bedroom.
I wish I could be there to help you plant the roses….they will be beautiful there! Next time you are here we'll see if we can fit some XXL terra cotta pots in the car 🙂
Oh your roses are so pretty! I could never do that! Beautiful!
Congrats on the Boy Scout award!!! I love roses of any kind. But I have had no luck at this house with them. Haven't tried the tree roses, might just have to see how a they might do here.