Re: good and bad roses

**Alicia Bayer abayer@prairie.lakes.com>**

I'm up in the frozen tundra of Minnesota and I love shrub roses.
William Baffin is my favorite climber (hot pink single, yellow eyes,
some repeat) and Therese Bugnet is my favorite shrub (very fragrant,
very double, light pink).  The TB is huge, easy, and has beautiful red
canes in the winter that are lovely against the snow.  Neither of
these roses needs extra care at all-- no spraying, fertilizing, extra
water, nada.  With two little kids, that is one of my biggest
concerns!

I've got lots of new roses this year that I'm curious to see come
spring.  I've started investing in the shrub roses and other hardy
varieties and have totally shrugged off hybrid teas.  I don't even see
the appeal of them anymore after growing my shrubs.  I'm sure it's
different in warmer climates, but here HTs are always small and
spindly with bare knees and frequent poutiness.  I love my roses that
are bigger than I am and stronger too, that carpet the ground with
petals and fill the air with the scent of real, old roses!  I don't
want any poison in my yard, especially with my little ones around, and
so that discourages me from getting HTs too.  I still have a few,
though.  I always bought them bare root in the spring for $3 and
treated them like annuals, with no protection or care over winter.
They often came back and that was an added treat, but for $3 it's a
cheap annual that produces blooms all summer, KWIM?

My husband just brought my herd back though so I've gotta go tend the
other garden.  ;)

Alicia, zone 4

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