I never promised myself a rose garden

When we moved into our house several years ago, we inherited dated wallpaper, rusty lawn furniture, and a dozen roses in containers that have been plagued by black spot and Japanese beetles. I had no qualms about riping out the wallpaper and giving away the lawn furniture. But give up on plants? Never.

Now that I have recently created more garden beds, I'm debating whether I should toss them in the ground. It would use up some of the space and they would probably do better in the ground than in the containers. But then again, why use up valuable garden space with plants I don't even like all that much?

Then just when I was fed up with them, they do something sweet to try to get on my good side; one rose bush just put out a bunch of fragrant beautiful flowers.

Rain, Rain, come this way!

Photo by John Morgan

Isn't it odd when you start actually wishing for a rainy day? It's not that I really mind hauling the hose around the yard; I actually enjoy the excuse for time spent with my plants, and it's not so difficult to find the time now that my daughter can tag along. But there's a limit to what you can do (or are willing to do) with supplimental watering. I'm against watering lawns, and it shows. And I was looking forward to juicy tomato-basil sandwitches, but we're raising nothing but cherry tomatoes, and that's not the seeds I sowed!