This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Dearest Daughters,
I have a poem for you today:
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
I know nothing about Roses.
Or violets for that matter.
That's it.
No, really. That's it. That's my poem.
We've owned our house for a little over three years. And we've done a good amount of work indoors and out.
But by "good amount" I mostly mean that we've neglected the well-manicured lawn and misc. other plants that we inherited. I pulled out some plants I thought were stinky. And I've done a half-hearted job at keeping the hibiscus from being devoured by aphids.
We have a very lovely Meyer lemon tree. Although, it's not techinically in our yard. So, there's that.
Our backyard has two tiers. On the upper tier we killed (or let die) three fruit trees, pulling one out finally. Covered some square footage with a chicken coop and run, and recently some raised beds, that still lay empty.
In the lower yard we built a sandbox (with some active grass-murdering) and now have a trampoline that covers up our embarassingly patchy, simultaneously under-watered and over-grown crabgrass.
Having unintentionally (or passivly) let our front yard grass get cray cray over the past two years, I asked Granpa to help us envison a new drought-tolerant, low-maintainence front yard. Having started in on our first steps towards that goal, our front yard has laid, a barren, roto-tilled wasteland.
It can all get a little depressing and overwhelming, being a naive, busy and un-motivated home--or, rather, yard--owner.
But, the one thing that has held it's own, that is abundunt, prolific despite me is our rose bush. It is lush and a vibrant pink. It smells like heaven.
And no matter what I do to it or don't do to it, it comes back. It keeps blooming, right there by our front porch, reminding me I'm home.
While the rose bush has been "easy" to maintain with a basic google-d knowledge of pruning, I've been long overdue for a little tutorial on how to best care for my most beloved of my inherited plants.
I don't know about you, but I always have a hard time pruing--because you have to make small sacrifices for the greater good. If I had it my way our rosebush would be a scraggly, sprawling mess, just so every bud could fulfill its potential for beauty.
Here's a video from the Gardenieres site on Rose Bush Pruing and Training that helped me to face the facts and to prioritize what needs to go (agressive branches, small ones) and what can stay not only this season, but also with an eye towards larger plant and landscaping goals.
(Oh, also? I guess I should be feeding my rose bush? Doh! Maybe a little something from Miracle-Gro? I'm such a gardening newbie! Maybe I outght to visit the Miracle-Gro Facebook page a little more often!)
Love,
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