A Beautiful Gift from a Beautiful Friend.

Hello blogging buddies, it has been some time since I posted a blog. With spring finally coming to the panhandle of Nebraska the last thing I have wanted to do is sit inside and blog. My yard has been calling my name, especially since last year with back surgery it was a little neglected. I wanted however, to share this beautiful gift that I received from one of my very best buddies. I have always wanted a tree rose but have been a little shy about the upkeep that one would take, and not really sure that it would do well in my part of the country. Everyone assures me that a little TLC and some strategic pruning is all this beauty really takes. So please have a look at my tree rose, I shall name her Twila, after my good friend. So I am joining in with Tootsie at Tootise time and Fertilizer Friday. Please stop by her site and see what wonderful things she has grown in her greenhouse.

I planted her in my little memorial garden dedicated to my mom, who passed away in 1983. This little garden is the entrance to my what will some day be my Cottage Garden Studio.

NOTE: Here is some info that I found out about the Tree Rose in my quest to learn how to take care of htis beauty. This info taken from: The Rose Magazine. Tree Roses are more properly called Rose Standards – a term believed to come from Victorian Europe when such techniques were commonly used in the rose gardens of nobles. Typically, the central cane, onto which the hybrid rose is grafted, is 32 to 36 inches long. (Miniature rose standards may be grafted onto shorter canes of about 24 inches. These are sometimes marketed as patio tree roses.) A graft is made to a rootstock at the bottom of the central cane. Another graft is made at the top of the cane to form the hybrid. The central cane (or standard) is usually supported by a stake. Pruning is also more important when growing rose standards. As you might expect, pruning is always important when changing the natural form of any plant or tree. Improperly pruning standards not only exacerbates pests and diseases, as it does with any rose, it may also create too much top and not enough bottom – thereby snapping or cracking the central cane. On some hybrids, it may be necessary to provide two or three support stakes until such time as the central cane becomes thick enough to support the weight of the grafted rose.

And speaking of trees, my little crabapple tree I bought last year for a piddly amount at a year end sale is doing it's best to add beauty to my back yard. It was late in the season when I made this purchase and my little 5' tree only cost me pennies. I wasn't sure how well she would do getting a late start and all but she is a healthy little 5'5" inch gal and doing well.

Happy Gardening All!