As much as I like getting my hands dirty, you’d think I’d be a better gardener than I am. It’s not that I’m bad at it, per se. It’s more like I’m, well, hopelessly lazy. And I think the plants are catching on.
The last time I drove home from the nursery, I swear I heard whimpering from the seedlings in the backseat.
But sometimes I get lucky. Case in point: when I chose to plant a Lady Banks Rose.
I’ve tried growing roses before — oh, the wilted leaves and dead canes at my feet. It would shock you. But this girl just keeps growing and growing, despite my neglect. Sometimes I think to water her, but most of the time she’s on her own. And most of the time, she grows up the side of our house with her drab, grayish green leaves, hardly noticeable to anyone. Passed over for a dance, every time.
But then March comes, and the Lady puts all the other plants to shame:![WP_20160304_16_06_30_Pro[1]](https://feedingonfolly.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/wp_20160304_16_06_30_pro1.jpg?w=900)
It just goes to show, sometimes the wallflower is the most interesting girl in the room. 🙂
Feeding on Folly 
She is beautiful!
Thanks! She gives our yard that much needed ‘wow’ factor! 😊
Truth! And your rose obviously wants to stay!
Yes, she seems to thrive on neglect. I need to find more plants like that!
I have knock out roses, easy care but I don’t know about your heat. Daylilies?
I’ve done some bulbs, but don’t think I ever see day lilies around. They grew like crazy in Colorado!
Here they are great cause they hardly need any water and multiply each year.
Banksia roses are great for just doing their own thing. You can slaughter them back and they just start all over again, and they have such sweet little blooms. I love them.
They are pretty, aren’t they? I’m trying to talk my husband into building a simple covered patio, so I can grow another one over it. What a spectacular spring patio that would make!
One of mine rambles of a wooden garden arch, and in Summer it is one of the lovely cool spots in the garden.
This indeed is a spectacular example of a woman given the freedom to flourish at her own pace. Well done!
Ah, well put! I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it makes perfect sense. She’s an inspiration to us all!
And this is how Michigan differs. In March, the bulb plants are just starting to poke their heads above ground.
We have relatives in Michigan – you had a rough winter! Please know, I am not one of the types who post pictures on Facebook showing us by the pool in winter, just to torment people back east. We’ll be suffering soon enough once summer hits!
I was never good with the roses, either, but I also have my own exception. Several years ago, when one of my furry children, Tasha the dachshund, finished up with this phase of her journey, I decided that her resting place should be near an iron trellis in the backyard. This trellis had borne witness to innumerable rose-growing attempts since the Stone Age, all of them failures, and the most-recent planting did not look promising. But after Tasha was settled as regally as possible, the frail planting became a hearty bush, and the bush became a tree, much as yours, and that little spot gives me fresh joy and remembered joy every day…
That’s beautiful! Such a wonderful tribute to Tasha! My childhood pet was a dachshund — Pepper was her name, and she was a feisty, wonderful companion. I love that breed.
I heard of a cemetery in England, I don’t know if there’s one like it in the U.S., where they bury you right in the ground, no box or embalming, and plant a tree on top of you. This appeals to me greatly, and I wonder if you can choose your tree? If so, I want a nut tree.
I’ve heard of these cemeteries as well, and I think it’s a grand idea. If the actual tree choice is an option, I’m not sure what I would select, so there’s some fodder for 3am on a sleepless night. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be in a box and I don’t want to be in a vase. I’d like a full return to nature.. quiet, simple and graceful…