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susanapics
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Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 4:53 pm
Location: NASHVILLE, TN 37216

Stolen rose bush + a question

I live in middle Tennessee. For eleven years I rented a house that had a rose planted in the front yard under a huge Maple tree. Each spring when it did get a little sun, it would get a few green leaves and then stop until eventually some guy with a weed eater would hack it down. In all that time, I saw two roses on it. They both opened one day and died the next. It was sad and I guess the only reason I didn't move it was because I didn't know anything about old roses and it essentially wasn't mine to move.

In May I decided to move out and agreed to house sit for a friend. In the eleventh hour of the move, for some reason that rose crossed my mind and I threw an old pot at the door and told my friend I was going to dig it up. When I thought of it again, the pot was gone and my friend was in the front yard digging up the rose bush with a HAND TROWEL. My first thought was let out a scream but I let it go as he was really just trying to help. So it came to the new (temporary) place with me in the car and as of today it has bloomed about six or seven times. Including weeks when it was well over one hundred degrees. It couldn't be happier.

The question now is, should I replant it this month or next at my new (permanent) place? I have a new garden with a couple of old roses in it. They're growing well but I suspect they've been over fertilized and I'd like to stress this rose as little as possible and give it back the last eleven years if I can :) Any feedback would be helpful, thanks.

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lorax
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Posts: 1316
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:48 pm
Location: Ecuador, USDA Zone 13, at 10,000' of altitude

Sounds like it's more rescued than stolen.

I'd replant it right away - that way it will have some time to set roots before the frosts hit. Roses are tougher cookies than we give them credit for.



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