Oh I needed a good laugh :)

As soon as I saw the title, I knew it would be good.
At least you are smart enough to cut the bush back to the nubs before digging out (I am not)... so in the process I get scratched and stabbed.. like it is fighting for survival.

What was up with OOYY for you? Mine is short, but pretty.
I was also suprised to read eglantyne is not good for you.

But did you tell me you have Pretty Jessica and love it?
That one maybe getting the shovel in my garden.
We must live at polar opposites of the perfect garden :)

Marleah

Soon Madame Pierre Oger will face her destiny.
La Madame de Shovel demands satisfaction!

*** Hahaha ... Mme. Pierre left here a few months ago. I should have known better than to plant a Bourbon here. She was 14 feet of mildew. ICK ICK ICK.
Eglantyne had four or five years to shape up and bloom. It didn't, and left us un-mourned some years ago. It's spot is occupied by a continuous-blooming Tea Rose. Several more Austins are leaving verrreeee soooooon . . .

Jeri

i just planted mme. pierre oger 2 mos ago in a prominant area right in front of house. she's blooming today. oh well i guess the mildew will match the silvery cast plants i have planted around her. no shovel pruning here, they just have to suffer on their own until they succomb.i don't spray for anything, i did paint my house green so the caterpillars climb on the house instead of on the flowers. seems to help

I am eyeing Rosette Delizy as we type with the shovel gleam in my eye.

She has turned into a 2 caned wonder. No surviving canes on the bottom.. she almost looks like a standard. If that was the look I was going for I would be thrilled. This is one rose that seems pretty tender as far as a tea goes. I love the colors, but hate what it is doing in the garden.

I am also thinking of getting rid of the black leafed rose (glamis castle). I enjoy it when it looks good, but if that is 2% of the time, again not worth the time. I have kept her around for about 6 years or so.. time to hit the road.

Marleah

EGLANTYNE - is actually a good rose. Her blooms are lush and full. Unfortunately the flowers were not pretty enough to make me blind to her sins; i.e. a tendency to get black spot, lots of mean little thorns, and a moderate carnation-like fragrance that failed to thrill. If the fragrance were stronger then she'd would have earned a permanent spot. As-it-is SHARIFA ASMA has been waiting for far too long in the ghetto and I could not say no to her charms.

LULLABY - again, the fragrance issue. The flowers scent is at best described as light and even then not always detectible. Which is really a shame when you consider the compact growth habit, dense foliage, good disease resistance, and continuous repeat bloom. Alas, NO FRAGRANCE = DEATH.

OUT OF YESTERYEAR - viciously thorny, relentless black spot (no matter how much I sprayed), and no repeat. I have too many other white roses sitting in the ghetto to warrent putting up with this rose's addiction to fungicides and stingy bloom habit.

MME. PIERRE OGER - ALWAYS a black spot disaster no matter much I spray, spring flush was disappointing, and hardly ever any repeat. COQUETTE DES BLANCHES is demanding the space and I just can't deny her any longer.

methinks somebody else watched "A tale of two cities" on the tube yesterday...

I have to agree with you about Out of Yesteryear. It failed to amuse me also.

I sort of treasure my Lullabye - but then its planted between two very fragrant roses. It makes a really nice show.

Lack of fragrance is not the kiss of death for me.

At my house shovel pruning is not quite so dramatic, but does seem to always involve a debate with DH - he feels compelled to be absolutely sure I want to be rid of that rose.

Noooooo, not Madame Pierre! I adore her! She's perfect and clean here, though. But a BS magnet (any rose), I'd probably feel the same way about.

I've never shovel pruned a live rose. Yet. I have, however, considered moving the ones that please me least: Carefree Beauty is boring; Banshee brought botrytis; Falstaff and Sally Holmes are not climbing; SDLM climbs but doesn't bloom, etc. They are on a list of Banish-able roses, which means--dig them and replant out by the pond/rock garden area where they can grow, die, fight the deer and fend for themselves.
I did shovel prune a Queen Elizabeth for a friend of mine who hates roses (yes, hates). But QE was whisked off to my yard and replanted, heh heh.

What, only 4?

I have a list and then I found something that stunned me: some of my roses need much more water than they are getting, maybe 3 or 4 times more. This isn't a 4X water climate, so they may end up leaving in the end. Such a simple variable, one that probably won't change any time soon. That 4X water makes other roses want to drop all their leaves. How in the world do they expect to evapo-transpire all that extra moisture if they drop all their leaves?

As a general rule, I don't shovel prune roses. Just can't bring myself to kill something I lovingly planted. Besides, I feel like it was a failure on my part, for not having done enough research on the plant. The only rose I've killerated so far is Lady H, and that was only because I thought she was dead, and didn't realize until after I had dug her up that she was gamely putting out a solitary cane.

Patrick, any time you feel like shoveling an otherwise perfectly good rose for lack of fragrance, send her this way. Me and my faulty nose promise to appreciate their otherwise stellar qualities.

I shovel pruned four last week as well.

Frederic Mistral: was a typical hybrid tea for me, i.e. two long canes bare from the waist down. Flower wasn't nearly as pretty as the pictures.

Fragrant Cloud: horrible neon color and didn't care for the fragrance.

Great Century: was never more than 6 inches high for me, always struggling.

Autumn Damask: loved the flowers this spring, but the foliage is a horrible mess in this climate. And the thorns!!!

Eglantyne has been pretty sickly for me, and Austin recommends it for cold climates! Golden Celebration shovel pruned itself along with A Shropshire Lad and Tamora. Cold hardy indeed! Meanwhile Paul Bocuse is doing fine.

Ha. I just sp'd THREE Eglantynes! For me, they had a really powerful fragrance, but they just hardly ever bloomed. I've since given that fence space to a Secret Garden Musk Climber, which is flowering away...

Know when to hold 'em,
Know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away
Know when to run. with shovel in hand.

Haha!! I have several on the list and have no compunction about shovel pruning. With limited space here, if you don't perform and make me happy, you're a goner.

Barbara

I'm not good at shovel pruning. It hurt, but who wants diseased roses? This climate and my garden especially is mildew alley. If anyone in the Portland area wants to try some, let me know and I'd gladly give them to someone else with better circulation. I view this as a test garden for disease resistance. Last week I sp'd Alister Stella Gray, Mme. Berard, Chateau de Clos Vougeot, Nastarana, and Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

For me it doesnÂt take a shovel. The wimpy ones I pull them up with one hand I hate wimpy roses. Luckily so far this year they all shape up.
Tracy

Good show, Patrick!

I have a few out there that are underperforming this year, and I need to go have a nice stern talk with them, and leave the shovel propped nearby for a couple of weeks to see if they get their act together!

Allison

I only wish I had that attitude when I got rid of my first wife. Not to mention the step-by-step instructions you so thoughtfully include.

good one!

I yanked Eugene de Beauharnais from his pot and tossed him in the trash. Miserable little runt! BS magnet, nearly leafless and pathetic blooms. Now I'm eyeing Cl. Maman Cochet. I'm sick of her balled blooms. It feels good to get rid of a rose you are less than pleased with. However, I don't do it with the same sense of glee/malice that Patrick does.