California, United States

Retired educator (music, librarian) and home owner. I planted my first roses when I bought my house in 1987. I have two dozen hybrid teas/floribundas/grandifloras bush, tree or climbers. I also had over a dozen miniature roses. I used to go to Dee Bennett's Tiny Pedals in Chula Vista and also at the Del Mar Fair until she retired and the nursery moved to Nevada. I have an old catalog from Tiny Pedals with pictures I use for reference. I worked for over 36 years as a teacher and school librarian and retired in a 2015. I am working at getting my landscaping filled in and established so I will be on a maintenance schedule rather than changing or establishing new plantings. I'll be adding the last of my planned roses in 2024 as soon as I can get an Apricot Candy tree rose. Then I'll just be working on vegetables and fruits every year while maintaining the rest.

After losing a lot of my miniatures due to landscaping I am back to growing my collection. Lucky me, my Mother is excessing her miniatures from her yard and I'm getting them all. She saved her Tiny Pedals catalog so I am hoping to identify most of them. We remember the names we bought, just not which is which. Yay. I've identified Irresistible and I think Merlot, the original from the 80s.

My biggest disappointment? I lost Ms. Mary and can not find any source to replace it, but I did manage to buy a Mary Alice, possibly the last one in the United States as I notice it is not available from any source any more. I will be very careful with mine so it survives and thrives.

I also lost my Snowfire due to two careless gardeners. Still looking for a replacement.

Someday I'd like to try my hand at propagating and breeding, especially the miniatures. I figure if Dee could do it in Chula Vista, I can do it in San Diego. Once I can successfully root some of my cuttings I will try my hand at breeding. I am retired so have time to learn a new skill.

Beginner (38 years)

Last visit: Friday, November 15th