A practical side to Roses

I love roses, I really do. I don't understand what all the fuss is about though. I find them very easy to grow. Perhaps LA is a perfect climate: we don't have big freezes or a lot of humidity so there is no die back and very few diseases. Generally in the fall the leaves get some rust, but that is about it (ok, sometimes Aphids but those are easy to deal with - just some soapy water!) I have also noticed that many roses do fine being completely abandoned. Since the housing crash, there are quite a few unoccupied houses around and I have  noticed that the roses do just fine without someone fussing over them. There is a great pink one across the street from me that does not get any extra water (for the last 4 years) and it blooms all of the time - and it wont rain for 6 months over the summer.

So beautiful and HUGE hips (rose hips that is...)

I have one client who likes to propagate roses. She will take a cutting (from a friend or along the street) and stick it into dirt and wait for it to root. She now has about 50 potted roses on her patio, most of whom we do not know the variety. For the past few weeks I have been repotting and pruning and weeding these roses so I took some photos to show what I have been doing:

This is 'before'. Very messy, lots of dirt loss and weeds and dead branches

This is 'after'. I even placed them in rows - or at least tried to as the pots are all different sizes

Here is one poor fellow who not only needs a trim but is very crooked. I like my plants in pots to be straight and centered

Messy Messy

Much Happier!