Gardening Against The Odds In Central Oregon. The Beauty Of The Rose…..
I know that this is probably a very region specific line of thinking but we are writing under gardening against the odds. As many people may know, Portland Oregon is the City of Roses. Spring comes with a boom and Portland blossoms out. The roses burst forth and take your breath away. Then the huge Festival Of Roses hits the city and everyone thinks about nothing but roses, roses, and more roses. It seems that all you have to do is go down and pick up any bare root rose bush and BOOM you have a miracle on your hands. But thats Portland, cross the mountains and head to the high desert of Central Oregon. Only a 160 miles away and the world of gardening changes. It becomes a challenge beyond imagination. You deal with a short growing season and drought. Just the humidity of the area poses a problem.
When I first undertook the task of growing rose bushes at my home in Central Oregon people scoffed at me. They said, you will have scraggly plants with little or no blooms. They said it couldn’t be done. Even professional landscapers felt that the task was just too hard. But I was determined to have my roses. My first purchase was the stunning orange tea rose Fragrant Cloud. I bought these bushes as bare root plants from the renown Jackson and Perkins Company. And I began the labor of love to make them flourish. Of course, I started out with a nice mixture in my soil of peat moss (you can never have too much peat moss, more is always better) and the real kicker was the hemlock bark. Finely ground though. Not the huge chunks of bark but more of a mash is the best way to go. Now, mix, mix, mix. Dig your hole, create your mound, tuck your roots around the mound, then pile on your mix and bring it up past the root bulb. Bury it about two inches down. You will need that for the cold Central Oregon winters. Now sit back and begin to nurse your babies. Thats what I did. I watered them, I would mist them lightly every single evening. And the biggest thing I did was Miracle Grow. The more the better. I would mist the leaves and buds with Miracle Grow, more then the recommended dose. Twice the dose. I would average the feeding about three times a week. I would water not only in the evening but also in the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t use a heavy insecticide. I would normally opt to handpick the aphids and pests off my beloved young shoots.
