Meanwhile, growing like a monster in a 2-gal container is a 'Baltimore Belle' I got from Vintage Gardens last year, intending to gift it to a friend back on Long Island. As it grew so fast, I started wondering how I'd get it there -- I don't drive, so I'd be carrying a rose with 8' canes on the train. I was thinking of gifting it to another friend from work, who's just starting her garden, but decided to let her "start small" with the four roses I gave her instead of dealing with a rambler right away.

Perhaps my two problems are each other's solution. 'Baltimore Belle' already has enough size to be tied along the tree where it forks, and it would serve as a trellis for the clematis which will bloom when the rose is finished. If I keep 'Baltimore Belle' here, I can still gift rooted cuttings to my two friends, which would be easier to transport.

I'm a bit bummed about not getting to see 'Jaune Desprez' bloom in the tree, but I'd also hate to buy it again only to lose it if we get another harsh Winter. So today I'm putting 'Baltimore Belle' in the ground, and I'm giving up on trying to grow a tender rose as a climber here.

I'll take pics later.

:-)

~Christopher

I gave up on Jaune years ago, never bloomed or grew very large due to winter kill.

So, I got 'Baltimore Belle' in the ground. When I took it out of its pot, the roots were circling and engulfing the soil all throughout. I couldn't dig down quite as deep as I'd have liked (a tree root ran across the bottom of the hole, but there was room for the rose's roots to grow around it), and the top of the soil line from the pot was about an inch above the soil line on the ground. I mounded the backfill, mixed in leftover manure, peat moss and mulch, and spread it so the slope of the mound wasn't very extreme.

Then came the task of untangling the clematis from the twine I had tied to a branch and left to dangle down as something to climb. With that out of the way, I played with how I wanted to attach the canes to the trunk of the tree before putting in a few nails and holding the canes in place with twist ties. Then I took the unraveled clematis and weaved it into the rose's canes.

Here are pics -- but I should add that this tree is on its way out. The main branch on the right, after the first fork from the base, is dead. Last year, one smaller branch on this section was dead and I sawed it off. Soon after, the whole section died. I'm going to leave it, though, to serve as a support for the rose and clematis. My landlord told me it's already about ten years older than Japanese maples tend to live around here.

Here you see the clematis 'Sweet Summer Love' planted to the right of 'Baltimore Belle.' The clematis has two very long stems now, which I separated and trained to "hug" either side of the tree by weaving it into different canes on 'Baltimore Belle.' There are several smaller stems further down, and the longer stems are starting to branch. Being a hybrid of Autumn Clematis, I think this will have no problem getting into the tree via the rose.

That one cane in the pic below is eight feet long. Imagine me dealing with that on a train! My friend will be getting a rooted cutting instead -- much easier to transport. Oh, and if you were wondering, 'Baltimore Belle' came a year ago as a band from Vintage Gardens. Yes, it grew this much its first year -- those are all last year's canes, and are already loaded with flower buds.

:-)

~Christopher

:-)

~Christopher

Diane

Anne