bump, to get this headed down the page. The GW upgrade was to get rid of our pics???
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I can understand that :)

Sure is a beautiful rose you have there.Looks like some thing worked.

Jean

Thank you Jean :) That is our KP Jr that came up when I transplanted the old one.

I mentioned Oklahoma Jr was Deb's pet rose in the Oklahoma Jr thread. You would think Jr would be mine too. I already had a pet rose before Oklahoma Jr came along. Stan talks about a rose's will to live. My pet takes that to an extreme.
I was going to widen the driveway in 1994. There were some huge arbor vitae along the drive and they were overgrowing the roses there. The roses needed to be moved anyway and I could have a wider driveway. Kordes' Perfecta had been there for decades and was a monster. I brought a backhoe home so I could get all of the rootball moved.
I noticed something funny in the arbor vitae foliage in 1999. I thought some trash had blown in and stuck there. I reached in to get it and realized it was a rose bloom. I traced the cane down to the ground. I had missed some root when I moved KP and somehow, someway the critter had grown under those bushes. I cut some of the arbor vitae foliage back so it could get a little sun.
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I began watering and feeding it once I realized the tough critter was there. I marveled that it had survived with no care or sun for so long. I pulled the arbor vitae out in 2005. KP Jr loves having sun.
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I can't help but consider it my 'pet rose'. Wonder why I consider such stubborness a virtue??
I still just shake my head when I look at the critter. That is one tough rose. It still has a long way to go to catch up with the old Kordes' Perfecta
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but is well on its way. That KP thrived in spite of no care for at least a decade after Deb's Grandpa had a stroke. Any time Stan mentions will to live, I immediately think of KP Jr and smile. You can doubt his 'will' theory but I know it is so :)

Oh, my widened driveway??
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You can see the form is still there where the white wire fencing is stuck in the ground. Deb decided Orange Passion, Timeless and friends would look better there than concrete. I don't think there will ever be any concrete there.

The linked pics wouldn't show in the discussion forum when I tried to post that story. Wonder what ivillage did there?

That reply doesn't make sense without the Oklahoma Jr story.

Many of you know the story about one of our Oklahoma bushes. In May of 2004 the dogs were playing and broke a cane off an Oklahoma. We were going somewhere when we noticed the cane. Deb was disappointed. I just took the cane and stabbed it in the ground. Said "now we have another Oklahoma!" That got her laughing and we left. Somewhere along the line the top of the cane got cut off. I was cutting back the iris foliage near the fence in late August. I saw the dead cane hidden in the foliage and started to pull it out. I noticed something as I reached for it and looked closer....
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The thing had taken root. Deb was so jazzed when I showed it to her. I knew it wouldn't survive the coming winter. I was pretty jazzed too.
I cleaned around the roses in spring of 05 and was careful in that area... just in case. The cane looked black as I took the leaves and lawn clippings out. Lo and behold, there was an inch of green cane and a little tip green poking out of the ground. A few days later....
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it was definitely rose foliage :) I didn't even pull the weeds beside it. I worried pulling the roots out would break that bit of growth off. Deb gave me her 'I told you so' look. Oklahoma Jr had become her pet rose. Jr had its first bloom in July.
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It looked so silly. That huge bloom was too much for the tiny stem to hold up. I propped it up and took the pic. The old established Oklahoma made it look even sillier.
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It towered above Jr. That bit of red down there is that 1st bloom on Jr. Deb got to where Jr got checked before her beloved Rio Samba. Never expected that to happen.
I quit wondering about Jr in 2006
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He wasn't as big as the established bush but looked pretty good.
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2007 was the year for Jr.
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The little critter had caught up with the established graft bush. OK, the old bush was a little taller, not much though.
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Excuse the shack next door in the next pic. I'm hoping I will be tearing the thing down soon.
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Funny thing is.... Oklahoma is one of the few roses I would grow from 1961 until 1993. I rooted cuttings of Crimson Glory, Chrysler Imperial and Mirandy in Sacramento. They never did as well own root as grafted ones did. I didn't try Oklahoma because it was not as strong a rose as the others in CA for me. Didn't figure it was any use :) Shows how much I know about roses, LOL. OK, I'll shut up... for a little while.

This is an awesome link test Digger:) Your photos are always a pleasure to view. I remember about the rose cane, that's a survivor rose for sure and it's really beautiful.

I thought of you when one of my minis died down completely to the canes because of an accident. I kept watering it and it came back a leaf at a time last summer.

Thanks for all the rose pics whether you're testing or not, it's always wonderful to see your roses beds. Looking forward to this year to your rose pics and try some comparisons with you again on some of the minis.

BTW it's Sue's birthday today:)
Les

What gorgeous roses. Thank you for sharing the story of the "juniors". It is a pleasure to see such a lush healthy garden--it eases the winter doldrums.

Thank you Les and Hoov :)

Les, I had posted those threads at another forum and all I had to do was paste them here. Should have known I wouldn't be able to resist when I saw the links worked.
Patience is our secret here. It is hard to imagine Oklahoma Jr as that tiny thing now. I'm glad I took photos of it. I always wonder how KP Jr looked those 5 years before I noticed it.

Hoov, I've got cabin fever bad :)
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is how the yard looks now. Another 4 months before it looks
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something like that. The last pics I took were in mid October
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and the roses had mostly given up. Almost all the blooms were frostbit by then. 4 months since blooms and 4 to go. We are halfway there :)

I think I'd rather stare at your snow than the 2' tall weeds I have growing all over the back garden and side of the house:) But, knowing I'm less than 2 months away from roses blooming I guess I'll take mine after all. You have enough alyssum Deb ought to be packaging it up and selling it:) That'd buy another couple of roses, LOL*

Are you adding any new roses this year? Greenheart, Nor'East has more of Ms. Mary in limited edition:)

Such a splash of color and your roses are still always a huge pleasure to see to brighten any day.

I prefer the snow to weeds myself :) That snow with the alyssum mat underneath helps the roses too. Deb gives away alyssum seeds like you wouldn't believe. She has newspaper and envelopes in the front room. She shakes the seeds onto the paper and then pours them into the envelope. Visitors always leave stunned with bouquets and envelopes, LOL.

No plans for new roses right now. Deb's 40+ list is still sitting here. MsMary is on the list. If you don't count a couple seedlings... we didn't add any new roses last year. We really are at the limit of roses we can care for and still have fun.
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I've been telling Deb we have too much alyssum too.
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She just laughs.
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I keep it under control with a weed wacker. Truth be known... I don't mind a flower I can use a wacker on. Those were taken in mid October after the roses began going dormant too. The alyssum is much more visible once the roses stop doing their thing.

Hi Digger, Yours and Debs roses are gorgeous. Does the alyssum bloom all summer and do you have to reseed it every year or does it reseed on its own? Thanks, Judy

Thank you Judy :) The alyssum reseeds itself.
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that was May 18 last year. You can see the alyssum coming up all around the roses. By May 30
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you can see it is starting to bloom. Rio Samba was the first of our big roses to bloom. 3 weeks later
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and it looks pretty good. Alyssum looks like that all season until the arctic stuff hits :) We do pull it from around the minis during the season.

I love your story, and I love all your alyssum, too. It really is the finishing touch and ties everything together.
I'm going to let mine go a little wilder from now on.

Carol

Dave, your pictures and garden are just beautiful. I love the alyssum too! I'll have to try it. I hate all the dang wild violets that have latched onto a couple of my beds. Maybe the alyssum might drown them out. Oh, wait, probably not. Worth a try tho. Do the colored alyssums come back like that too? I wonder...

Thank you Carol and Beth :) Tieing that riot of color together is a chore Carol. The alyssum manages to do it.

Beth, we knock the weeds down in spring. Once the alyssum gets going, not much comes up through it. Deb hasn't bought any alyssum since 97 or 98. She bought the purple alyssum the last few years. I was pretty sure white was dominant and I was actually right, lol. It has been 10 years since she bought any but spots of purple still show up in the alyssum. (if you look in the lower left of the huge mass you can see some - last pic in the reply with the snow pic) There is no way to predict where it will be. Deb always scolds the stuff that comes up white under
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Heirloom telling it that it is supposed to be purple, lol. She does have fun out there.

I mentioned using the weed wacker on the stuff. This pic is right after I went through along the drive.
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It looks pretty good within a day or 2 after.
I didn't want the stuff around the roses originally. Now I like it. Makes great background for pics too :)
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Your gardens are amazing just like you and Deb.

Please check your e-mails---I sent one to you !!!

Florence

'Link test' who are you kidding? I'm already jealous of your garden Digger.

Carla

Thanks Florence and Carla :)

Didn't receive an email Florence?? I checked my spam filter too. Could you resend to diggeratimt.net?

LOL Carla, the thought was to just see if the pic would link and let the thread drift away. I should have known it wouldn't happen that way :) I was sitting here thinking the yard looks pretty good after 15 years of work. After typing that.... I realized that looking at the pics doesn't make me think of how good the yard looks. They remind me of how much fun it has been working out there with my darling :) Instead of seeing a beautiful rose, I'm reminded of some goofy thing I did that got Deb laughing (or vice versa). You knew I was very strange... I'll shutup now.