Where Things Stand

Yes, I know I haven't posted the pictures yet.  Soon, soon.  Meantime, here is where things stand after the last two years.  In terms of the roses:

Comte de Chambord — iffy at best

Double Delight — both trees survived and are in bloom

Dr. Huey — alive and soon to bloom

Falstaff — alive, damaged, no buds yet

Fisherman's Friend — dead 

Fragrant Lace — iffy at best

Garden Party — as good as dead

Gertrude Jekyll — dead

Graham Thomas — dead

Heritage — alive and soon to bloom 

Lagerfeld — dead

Louise Odier — alive and in bloom

Melody Parfumee — alive but no buds yet

Mme. Isaac Pereire — alive and soon to bloom

Pat Austin — alive and soon to bloom

Peace (tree) — dead 

Pierre de Ronsard — alive, damaged, but getting ready to bloom 

Queen Elizabeth — alive, damaged, but holding her own with buds 

Red Ribbons — alive and soon to bloom 

Smooth Velvet — alive and soon to bloom

Sweet Juliet — as good as dead

Tropicana — alive but no buds yet

Winchester Cathedral — as good as dead

Zephirine Drouhin — dead

The Mystery Rose — alive and in bloom.  The mystery rose sprang up from the rootstock of the Peace tree that died.  The blossoms are small, fragrant, and pink, and my suspicion is that it's either a variety of R. Multiflora or R. Manetti, but I can't be sure.  I'll get some photos posted soon and perhaps someone will be able to positively identify it.

As you can see, the past two harsh winters have been very unkind to me and my roses. In terms of the other denizens in the garden, much to my surprise, the Crepe Myrtle woke up, with lots of new growth low on the bush/tree, and I will have to prune away a lot of dead wood from the upper areas.  Of the recently planted Delaware Valley White Azaleas, only one of the three has survived.  The old one I had has also died.  A good portion of the very old red azalea (that predates the house) is now dead, but the remaining part put on a nice show.  One of the Peegee Hydrangeas has died, but the other is doing fine.  Of the two recently planted China Girl hollies, one died.  Most of the bulbs that were planted back in 1998 have now expired, though a few continue to soldier on year after year.  I've decided that I will do no planting this year; rather, after removing the old dead plants and filling the holes with topsoil, will allow those spots to lie fallow for a year, hopefully allowing any pathogens (like the rose rosette virus) to die away.  There will be time to plant things next year after what will hopefully be a less harsh winter.

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