When I first signed on to help with this project there was talk about making some improvements to the mostly ignored Rose Gardens. Since January I have been mainly observing the roses, thinking about what we can do with the space and how we can make it a better demonstration garden. The first step was early in the spring, when we observed the plants in their annual bloom. It was a good time to identify who was who, and figure out what their growth habits are. From this research the Rose Garden page was created. (see tab at the top of the page to read more) It was decided that we had WAY too much of a good thing, the roses had taken over the three beds opposite the veggie garden. But then, that is the habit of heirloom and old garden roses, and a big part of the reason that they were able to survive the trip over the Oregon Trail, and still bloom each year many years later. But these beauties needed to be tamed.
So in early November we put out a call for some help in our little garden. Please bring your shovels and pruners, there are Roses to be dug! And they came too, we had many of our regular volunteers along with some new faces. In all we had 13 gardeners digging and chopping out those thorny plants on a brisk sunny day. The work was not easy, but the results are so worth the effort! We are very pleased , and can't wait to embark on the next step in our renovation.
"Volunteers are not paid -- not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless." (unknown)
A big THANK YOU to those that came out to help dig the roses and put the veggie garden to bed for the winter, and for our regular crew for showing up week after week in service to others.
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| It was a successful year for our humble veggie plot |
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| All ready for winter planting |
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| The Rosa Mundi had taken over most of this bed and was crowding out one of our prized Moss Roses |
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| Now there is some much needed space around the Moss Rose. |
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| Our Cardinal de Richelieu is crowded by starts and some Oregon Grape |
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| Now he has some room to grow, and the little starts have found new homes |
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| Sweetbriar, Rosa Mundi and Moss Rose all crowded together in this overgrown bed |
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| The Rose Mundi has been removed and the Sweetbriar tamed a bit, now what is left can breathe |
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| The Rosa Mundi had taken over this bed. |
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| We took out about half of the plants |
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| the opposite end of the bed pictured in the before photo above, the Rosa Mundi will be a beautiful hedge next summer |
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| look at all the room we now have for some different varieties! |
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| This is most of the debris we cleared from the gardens. Time to fire up the chipper! |
