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"Some people are always grumbling that roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses."

Alphonse Karr

Welcome to my personal website showcasing my roses and the garden they grow in.

Gardening in the Pacific Northwest (I'm in USDA Zone 8b) offers it's own set of challenges, from blackspot to rampaging slugs.  The purpose of this page is to illustrate how my roses grow for ME, in my garden in the Tacoma, WA area.

I'm drawn to roses for many reasons.  Naturally I appreciate them for their beauty and fragrance, but to me they mean more; they are living metaphors.  They remind me of the natural balances; good/bad, joy/sadness, soft/sharp, yin/yang.  During difficult times I can work in my rose garden and leave feeling more attuned to the natural world; for although I may be scratched and bleeding, I am reminded that beauty is to be found in the thorniest and most inhospitable of places.

I'm drawn to the softer looking roses such as English Roses and Old Garden Roses, but I also have some Hybrid Teas and Floribundas, singles and modern climbers.  The following pages contain images of my roses and detail their performance in my garden.

How this section is organized:

  • Photo Gallery: photos of roses and my local urban wildlife
     
  • Alphabetical List: a complete list of all the roses I am currently growing, with links to their respective pages (if available.).  Since there is some disagreement as to the classification of many Old Garden Roses, this is the best place to look for a specific cultivar.
     
  • Old Garden Roses:   Defined by the ARS as roses that belong to classes that were in existance before 1867, the year that the first Hybrid Tea 'La France' was introduced.
     
  • Modern Roses:  These may all belong to classes that came into existance after 1867, but many of these are still quite old roses.  I grow modern roses of many different classes:
     
    • Climbing Roses: Modern climbers
       
    • English Roses:   Roses hybridized by David Austin.  Although classified as Modern Shrubs by the American Rose Society (ARS) these plants are popularly considered to be in a class by themselves.
       
    • English Style: Romantica, Generosa, etc.  The ARS classifies these as Hybrid Teas/Floribundas/Shrubs etc.  These are modern plants with Old Garden Rose style blooms.
       
    • Floribundas: Classified as Cluster-Flowered roses ouside the USA, these, along with Hybrid Tea roses, are the most commonly available plants at the vast majority of nurseries and garden centers.  Generally produces blooms that resemble Hybrid Teas, but blooming in clusters of three or more.  I have also lumped Grandiflora roses in with these, since they are also considered Cluster-Flowered roses outside of the USA.
       
    • Hybrid Teas:   Classified as Large-Flowered roses outside the USA, these are the flowers that spring to mind when most people  think 'rose', for they exhibit the high-centered blooms that most florists sell.
       
    • Shrub Roses:   Modern roses that have been bred for duty as landscape plants, as well as a 'catch-all' category for roses that don't fit other ARS classes.  Generally considered to be more easy care and disease resistant than Hybrid Teas etc.
       
  • Miniature Roses:   Plants with small flowers and foliage.  The plants themselves can get quite large.
     
  • Shovel Pruned: roses I've given (or thrown) away... and why.
     
  • Garden Photos contains photographs of my roses in the garden setting, plus a full color interactive planting diagram of my entire property.

Care and Culture:  I do not use pesticides or fungicides on my roses, for I do not feel justified using toxic sprays that can kill beneficial insects and the birds that eat them, and destroy the earthworms that are so necessary for healthy soil.  I can't bring myselt to add to my planet's toxic waste load in the quest for "perfection".  I fertilize regularly with alfalfa/manure tea, fish fertilizer, aged manure and compost. I use water spray or soapy water to control aphids until natural predators such as ladybugs can take over.  Blackspot and powdery mildew are kept in check by washing the spores from the plants periodically with the garden hose.  Any rose that needs more care than this to stay healthy and look reasonably decent will get a ride out of town on the end of my shovel.

Enjoy your visit to my Virtual Rose Garden! 

For a large selection of related web sites, please check out the Rose Links page.