Life lessons from a rose

The rose has told
In one simplicity
That never life
Relinquishes a bloom
But to bestow
An ancient confidence.

          ~Nathalia Crane, Venus Invisible and Other Poems

     I am a novice gardener, so this summer's draught has been a difficult one for my poor gardens. I am not sure how to help my poor plants, other than provide water to them regularly. As time has gone on, our well is showing signs of stress, so I have had to slow way down on watering outdoor plants. That means that many of them will probably not make it through to this fall when cooler temperatures and hopefully more rain will help them. Lanny and I are worried about several trees as well. After many years of working to make our yard lovely, this all seems kind of cruel.


     I have mentioned before that I have quite a few rose bushes in the yard, most surround our deck in the back of the house.  Last year was difficult for them-- it was hot and dry too (though not nearly as dry as we are this year!) and we had a terrible infestation of Japanese beetles. The plants tried in vain to bloom, only to have the blossoms munched into brown shreds by these insects. Several of the plants were completely denuded of their leaves by them.


     Winter last year was kind to the roses however. It never got very cold, rarely below freezing, almost no snow at all and lots and lots of rain. They were well-mulched to withstand the weather thrown at them. I had researched how to battle the hated beetles, and had armed myself with insecticide spray in advance. I was optimistic and looking forward to the spring and that first bloom of roses.


     Of the 16 rose bushes around my deck, 14 of them showed early shoots in February. Fearing a late frost, I kept them mulched until late March. To my dismay, two of the roses seemed to be dead. Both of them had been hard-hit by the beetles and looked awful in the fall, so I wasn't surprised. I ordered two replacement bushes from the online rose catalogue I use, and looked forward to their arrival.


     When the new roses arrived, I asked Lanny to help me get them in the ground. By this time, the other rose bushes were covered in green leaves and actually had little flower buds on them. He dug up the first dead bush and planted one of the new ones in its place. When he went to do the same for the second bush, he called to me. "Look!" he said. "There are signs of life in this one!"  Sure enough, deep into the dirt was a tiny reddish shoot emerging from the big center cane. Maybe three total little shoots. "I am going to leave it be and see what it does," he told me. I admonished him that it was barely alive while all the others were leaved out, and that we had a healthy new replacement. But he persisted. He found another location for the new shrub, and we left the old one alone. All the roses, including this nearly dead one, got regular doses of fertilizer and treatment for the Japanese beetles.


     When the draught hit, and dragged on and on, I feared for the roses. But lo and behold, it turns out roses like dry hot weather! I have only watered them a few times, and have been rewarded by bloom after bloom. The deck, which we can't sit on in the heat, is fragrant with the smell of all these roses. And the draught has also taken its toll on the Japanese beetles-- we have only seen a few, which I immediately doused with insecticide. So, all in all, it has been a good summer for these flowers, in a year when nothing else has been able to grow.

The smallest rose to the right of the bed is the one that was almost dead. This was taken in June.

As the summer wears on, the roses thrive despite the heat and draught!

     And the nearly dead rose has continued to grow and bloom and is finally as large as the other rose bushes. It is beautiful!!

From almost dead to gorgeous blooms... what a lesson!

     There is a lesson in all this, of course. First, sometimes the most hopeless of causes just needs some encouragement and help. If well-nourished, you never know what beautiful blooms may come. And we also need to remember that when times are tough, there will always be someone who will make it and actually thrive and bloom in spite of things.  And finally, not everybody grows to maturity at the same rate. If nourished and encouraged and the growing conditions are right, with a little patience even "almost dead" people can blossom!


     I wonder what kind of flower I am? Do I wilt like the annuals in my flower boxes as soon as hot weather comes? Or am I like the astilbes out back that lasted well into the draught with many blooms, but eventually gave up, and dried up early?

Or, am I like this little rose, which set deep roots, paced itself and learned to blossom despite severe growing conditions?

Ablaze with color, this beautiful rose was almost dug up and tossed out in the spring!