Well back in July I received two roses from Heirloom
and while my wife was at the grocery store I dug
out two 3ft high & wide Spireas and planted roses
in that location... he he
Then 1 week after that I received two more roses so
out came two more Spireas while wifey was away...
It took her over a week to notice...lol
She just shakes her head...lol

Oh that's just funny! I'd probably end up laughing, depending on how much I loved those Spireas.

Oh yeah. We just moved into our home. So instead of helping paint/move, I am out there putting in the 60+ RU roses I ordered and the 24 Heirloom bands that arrived. The sales were too good to pass up! Good thing I take care of the finances.... speaking of, there is a J&P sale going on I wanted a few things from....

My husband and I have a deal.... Every time he buys $50 worth of Magic Cards (he never grew up and is obsessed) I get two new roses.

So yeah, I've sneaked in a few extra the last couple of months but he rarely pays attention to the garden aside from the veggies. I see it as only fair since I'm pretty positive he sneaks in quite a bit of cards! But please o please..... no more sales! I am out of room.

I buy roses when my husband goes hunting. I've already got my eye on a few things I want to pick up during deer season. (Apologies to those opposed to hunting, by the way. One of my husband's co-workers asked him if he would be bringing home any "trophies," and he replied that no he wouldn't, because his wife would make him bury it and say that he's sorry. Yeah... I'm one of those.)

QuestioningSerenity,

Spireas have a crazy root system. I had to dig down quite far and wide to get them all so I'm glad I dug them out before it got any crazier... lol

The Spireas looked really nice BUT our one fat cat kept laying in the middle of them waiting for birds...
The thin branching broke and the branching never
bounced back and it made them look quite awful...
SO an excuse for roses....LOL

On a similar topic, I remember back when I worked at a fabric store--you have heard of fabricholics....my husband says he will divorce me if I buy more fabric/I am going to miss him...--it was an informal part of the job for us older ladies to clue in young brides on the best ways of hiding stashes from husbands. My mom had parts of her stash in the kitchen cabinets.

I have no such problem, but I have a close neighbor whose husband has decreed No More Roses! So, what she does is have them delivered to my house, then runs over and gets them and plants them when he is out for a few hours - once they are in the ground, he never notices (he is really not interested) that her collection has moved from 80 to 81 roses...

Jackie

Too funny! I love this topic!

I went out and bought 5 new roses at Lowes a couple weeks ago and planted them right out while hubby was taking his nap!
He walked right by them on the way up the walkway and then I asked him if he saw what I planted and he said "No, I wasn't paying attention" ! he, he Very observant indeed! lol

Most times he has no clue if I've planted something new.

I used to run the yarn department at a mom and pop craft store. There was a lady who kept track of her husband's hobby purchases and then on Superbowl Sunday, she would come in and buy cross stitch and needlepoint supplies and also bring in all the projects from last year to be framed. He liked to build and race motorbikes so she spent quite a bit. She came in every year without fail. Her work was so beautiful and we always looked forward to seeing her masterpieces that she stitched during her sons' after school sports.

I'm glad I don't have to answer to anyone about my rose buying or Civil War/ Victorian costume collection.

I don't really have to explain either, but when my guy comes to town and says "did you get any new roses?" (thank goodness he is an enabler) I usually answer "no, but there is this one, and that one, oh and one over here, and those over there...."

Oh Man, I worked in a fabric store! Toward the end, I only worked one day a week and pretty sure I owed them money at the end of the day

I worked in a fabric store! LOVED that job... When DH did the taxes the next year, he came to me very sorrowfully and announced that we couldn't really afford that job, as we were $3000 down over my earnings.... Sigh. It was a fun job. I don't BEGIN to spend like that on the garden.

Melinda

I used to sneak horses I bought past the ex by telling the transport company who brought them [was in cahoots with the driver] to come late at night after he was asleep. I would sneak them into the barn - he never knew the difference. Same with the roses and other plants I would load the car up with - made sure he was gone when I got home, put them where he never looked and voila! I was going to get what I wanted and never mind his griping.

Now, my wonderful boyfriend of 12 years loves plants and is always happy to walk around with me and see whats blooming. Its great to pull in the driveway loaded with plants [or get packages in the mail like last night from Northland Rosarium] and not have to look over my shoulder!
Judith

I wouldn't dream of hiding anything from my husband. He's my partner and best friend, and to me it would be a shabby thing to do. Since he's into anything that makes me happy I can fortunately buy all the roses I want, and that generous attitude makes me want to be careful all the more about how we spend our money. Every relationship is different and it's not my intent to cast aspersions on anyone's way of doing things, and this is just my way.

Ingrid

Jim, thanks for the laughs. I sneak my new roses onto my deck when dh is not around. There are so many pots that he doesn't notice a new one. To make room, I got rid of a Dr Huey that took over Double Delight (I actually murdered a rose!) and combined a one-cane Princess Alexandra of Kent with a larger plant in a big pot. Voila, room for 2 new roses!

My sister says if I get any more roses, there won't be room for people on my deck.

Peeple, Schmeeple... lol

I HAVE a craft/fabric store, plus work part-time at the local Ace Hardware store (been there 23yrs). I work 6 days a week, so I have no time to get my garden in good shape. I get more tired every day, and farther behind in the yardwork. But what do I do? Order just a couple more roses to sneak in past my husband. We're living from paycheck to paycheck because I only get paid from Ace for the 3 days a week, and his job has recently downsized and he's lost several hrs a week in O/T, so we're really scraping by. I tell him he can't spend any more money (on car stuff or motorcycle stuff) and has to cut down on the beer. So I felt really guilty last week when he called to tell me I got a box of roses. I told him I only replaced a couple that died. That's the truth! I mean I couldn't be without my beautiful CAFE that somehow just up & died. And the little tiny ANVIL SPARKS I got from (probably) Vintage is struggling to grow above 1"! It's virtually dead. Dies & comes back, dies & comes back, but never getting any bigger than a couple leaves high. So I emailed Burling at Burlington Roses and she sent me a nice big gallon sized CAFE and very kindly sent me two-for-one ANVIL SPARKS bands! She's great! I highly recommend her!! Anyway, so I did feel guilty getting those, but my husband didn't complain. He knows how I am with the roses.... obsessed. LOL (besides, he still hasn't quit drinking beer...)

I want, and that generous attitude makes me want to be careful all the more about how we spend our money.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.floweraura.com

My lovely Irishman used to fuss about my gardening expenses. Once he realised how happy it makes me he became an enabler - I mean a supporter. He actually took me to a garden festival this year and bought me roses.

I garden on a budget and rarely spend big money on my roses. I usually bring home half dead clearance roses. Except for my DA purchase this year.

I wanted Lady of Shallot, Corolyn Knight, and Jude the Obscure. I couldnt find them in Ireland. If I ordered my 3 container roses from Mr. Austin they would cost ã23 ($35.50) each plus ã15 ($23.15) shipping EACH. I found a shop in Northern Ireland to special order them in. I paid ã13.50 ($20.80) each plus the gas money (shop is nearly 2 hrs away). I saved loads.

I explained my amazing savings to my partner while serving him dinner. Most of the dinner (except the meat) grew in my garden. He was happy that I'd figured out a cost effective way to obtain my roses and he praised the homegrown meal.

I'm honest with him, he's happy, and I have a garden full of roses.

M

Hahaha! OMG! I am not the only one. My sweet husband, God bless him! He tells me all of the time, "Please. No more roses." to which I respond, "Honey! Don't be silly.. There's ALWAYS room for one more rose!". Because, well, there is always room for one more rose, right?!

Currently reviewing my garden to figure out what I can giveaway to make room for one or two more roses. Will be digging up my peonies (bleh!) and day lilies to make room. We live in the part of the city where the houses are old and close together so we don't have much land, an 1/8 of an acre (including house). So far I have about 26 roses, 20 varieties but would love another 6 or 60 ;-) !

Any time my husband asks me if I got rid of a plant for another rose, I either change the subject (which is obvious) or just explain to him why the rose is superior (hard to counter that one!).

I'm with Ingrid on this one - with over 700 roses and the need for replacements each year, there's no way I could disguise rose purchases even if I wanted to, and I'm glad I don't want or need to. Like a lot of other people posting, he has his hobbies and I have mine, and the monthly storage fees alone for his classic cars balances out a fair bit of my rose purchases anyway.

At the same time, most of my rose purchases aren't obviously roses to a non-gardener, since band plants just look like random perennials, and I tend to plant them pretty quickly after arrival so they don't sit around and get annoying. The only time I can recall he was a bit frustrated by rose purchases was when Eurodesert went out of business and I bought over 100 of Cliff's mother plants. You really notice how many roses are arriving when each comes in its own 3' X 5' heavy box, but bless his heart his main comment was a heavy sigh and a bemused question, "More roses?" As tightly as I pack my garden beds, you don't realize how many roses are in a given bed till you actually count. The one request he made was that I not add any new rose beds to accommodate any purchases, which seems quite reasonable to me (not to mention I've run out of good spots anyway).

He's been really very supportive of my gardening, even though he still can only tell a rose from a peony from phlox because I tend to have more roses than anything. He'll frequently comment how nice the flowers in the front yard look, and mentions when he can see roses blooming from standing at the kitchen window. He even commented that he was able to trim the front hedges relatively pain free that have roses backed up right to the edge of the yew bush. Last week I cut some roses to give to friends, but they forgot to take them home. I was taking them up to go give to a neighbor when my DH interrupted and said, "But I like them too. Let's keep them, I really like these." Just when you think he doesn't notice he surprises you with appreciation. Yep, he's a keeper. He's probably rather not see so many roses, but he likes the effect as an end result.

Cynthia

I actually like to take Al with me when I go to the nurseries. I find he picks out more than I would, lol! I've often gone with the thought of only getting one new one and come home with 2 or 3 instead because he liked them. I have no problem with adding roses that he likes. Historically he's picked out some great roses!

I envy you guys who share your rose obsession with your S.O. But then I remember he shares my horse obsession, so it's all good. It's really kind of funny, because he doesn't understand spending hundreds on roses, but wouldn't blink if I suggested spending thousands on another horse.

Thankfully I do not have the room for spending hundreds on roses, well after I add in the fact I just started my 'container garden' this year. So now it'll just be maintaining haha.

My SO is half and half with supporting. He knows how happy these roses make me, though with the state of the porch, he kinda grumbles when I suggest walking through the garden center hehe. He's actually even helped me on occasion when I ask nicely for a strong man :)

And update for ya'll, those 3 roses came in today and not one comment was made by him, AND yesterday when we wandered through my Lowes, I found the stevia plant I've been looking for all season and he suggested I buy it now! Yippee!