Arkansas, United States

My garden began when I received a coupon in the mail for $20 worth of free merchandise from a Dutch bulb company. I started with tulips and then branched into other plants, including a beautiful hydrangea that I rescued, hostas, daffodils, hyacinths, Knockout roses, and many smaller perennials. In spring of 2008, I bought my first rose, April Moon. She is a beautiful pale yellow shrub rose, and I've definitely learned a lot from her.

I then gathered a small hodge-podge collection of roses from Walmart, Home Depot, heirloomroses.com, and Sam's Club. I bought some for myself, but many were gifts from friends who were aware of my new hobby. Eventually, the need for an official rose bed became apparent, so my little corner lot became locally known as the "rose house."

At that point, I was working with seven rose bushes and not really knowing what I was doing. Luckily, my amazing rose-whispering stepmother, Nancy (search for N Pierce's garden on HelpMeFind), intervened and taught me about planting, care, chemicals, and other rose-growing essentials. She was even kind enough to buy four roses--Memorial Day, Gold Medal, Pope John Paul II, and Alec's Red--for me to add to my garden. To this day, she is the rose guru that I consult when I have questions, and I really must credit her for inspiring me to really get excited about rose gardening.

I now have 17 roses and am thoroughly addicted. The peace and joy that I have gained from growing roses is absolutely unparalleled in my life, which in generally extremely hectic and stressful. During spring and summer, there is not a day that goes by that I don't have fresh roses in my living room and kitchen, and I have several "regulars" who pass by my house to look at or smell the pretty flowers.

I look forward to learning more and more about gardening, and I hope to someday have a rose garden like Nancy's.

Beginner (16 years)

Last visit: More than a year ago