Relocated to Greensboro, NC, in 2022 and tried to plant a diversity of roses to learn who likes living around here. The front of the house faces SE to S, but it can be tricky finding sunlight with trees nextdoor or across the street. The backyard is all trees, with only a couple of spots where I might grow more roses. I have had the benefit of learning about roses from my mother who grew 300 at a time, on average, in Oklahoma. But now, I'm realizing the differences between our climates and the nurseries where I might select roses here. I still value her input, though I have solid red clay for soil here. It takes a chisel to cut into it, not a shovel! I'm pretty nervous about the roses I planted last year, because I merely dug large holes in the clay to accommodate them. That might create a pit of despair for them, since the clay acts like concrete and doesn't help with drainage. When I started out, I was quite annoyed at all the non-flowering plants and hellebores in the yard, but now I have learned that they were planted with that soil in mind. Last year's roses will be interesting to watch and see how they respond to the clay pits I gave them. This year, I'll be trying something on a larger scale, ideally creating an entire bed of better soil to grow the majority of roses I plan. And I'm not experienced growing perennials, but I'm determined to add them to the mix this year to see how the diversity of plants among roses will help the roses, too. My 20 years of experience with roses is primarily potted roses in California...along with a few times when I engaged in guerilla rose planting in my younger years, gifting a rose to a place where I worked and watching it thrive in spite of its uninvited status. This isn't going to be an exciting garden to watch. But if you live in the Piedmont Triad area, you are welcome to comment and advise. I absolutely love all kinds of roses and can't wait to turn my starter garden into something more! The first roses of 2023 in my Starter Garden are Brick House Pink, Desdemona, Fragrant Cloud, Radiant Spirit, Rosa Rugosa, Z. Drouhin, Lady of Shallott, Raspberry Cupcake, Marc Chagall, Eden Climber, New Dawn, Sea Foam, Peggy Martin, Don Juan Climber, and a couple of others. So far, already in the garden, there are hellebores, clematis, hostas, and lots of shrubs that are just green with no flowers. Some azaleas, one gardenia, a few Japanese camelias, and a couple of gardenias are also here already. The previous gardener seemed to focus on shady plants and hellebores with a box shrub front yard. I'm hoping to convert the front yard into cottage garden style with lots of roses and native plants.
