That is going to be one great border! What painstaking steps you are taking to make it perfect.

It's going to be wonderful. What a joy it must have been to plant those roses.

Wow girl....you take on projects that put mine to shame!! That border is going to be INCREDIBLE when it matures. I love the old posts.

Be sure to keep us updated as the garden matures. I suspect we will be in awe.

Ronda

Can't wait to see pic next spring!

Connie..I LOVE it...When can I come to see it? I just had a 14 ton load of mulch delivered...it makes the roses pop out...

Robert

Thanks, everybody. It feels so good to finally have roses in the ground. I've been a pot gardener for 3 years now, holding onto my roses and gathering my collection as the restoration of our house dragged on with delay after delay. I know the roses are happier -- but they look so small without their pots to raise them up. :)

Count of roses planted so far:
Front border - 40,
Ramblers on the back fence - 15 (there's no way to get even close to a decent photo of them right now. I'll see what I can show you in spring.)
Roses still left in pots - about 60, or so. (A little more than half of these are modern -- HTs, shrubs, minis, and about a dozen Austins. The weather isn't looking like it will cooperate to let me get them into the ground before it gets too cold to work outside comfortably. The large ones will winter in their pots -- they've done it before. The small ones may go into the garage. The REALLY small ones will probably go under the lights in the basement with my cuttings.) I'll resign myself to wintering over the roses, and I'll turn my attention to planting daffodil bulbs -- I LOVE daffodils!

DH had gotten comfortable with my putting roses onto this fence. He had the idea that he could try to straighten the posts, but I doubt it would be successful. They're heavy, and are well into the ground on deep footings. The former forsythia hedge and the moisture it retained did a lot of damage. We will, however, replace the fence boards next spring before the roses get too big. (we have complete access from the pasture on the other side of the fence) We will probably be able to repaint the posts too. That'll make him happy.

Robert, my friend, you are welcome here any time you would like to come. (That goes for the rest of you, too.) Give me a call and I'll check my calendar. 14 TONS of mulch? Wow! BTW, if the roses pop out won't you have extra work putting them back in? (sorry, smart a$$ comment alert.)

Connie

P.S. Now that I've planted my Teas and Chinas, Hybrid Musks and Noisettes, I guess that means that I'll have to start scheming new ones for next year. I have a few on my short list . . . (insert evil laugh here)

I love it too! I am amazed that those posts are concrete! When established, it will be an amazing sight.

Carol

Great Job! This is going to be a real showpiece.

Don't worry about the fence. It has character.

Connie, you have done a wonderful job and lots of hard work. I will be anxious to see it next year.

Carla

What a wonderful collection of roses. I look forward to seeing pics of them next year.

You have done a great job. It will mature into something really special. The boxwood hedge will really set all those roses off.

Hi Carolfm!
I was amazed to read that those posts are concrete too AND I SAW THEM UP CLOSE! So much for my powers of observation. Often think of our visit to Ashville. Connie has a beautiful place; enjoyed the rose/plant swap so.
Jim

Connie-----what a wonderful job you have done to restore this rose area---I was totally shocked to read that the posts were concrete---I have never seen one like that----

It will be a gorgeous site when all these roses are in bloom-----

I'm too far north to grow these tender roses so I will enjoy your pictures----

Great Job------

I do hope to be well enough next year if you have another meeting at your lovely property--

Florence

BTW----Please tell your DH not to worry about the fence (which I love) as soon as those ramblers get going you won't be able to see the fence-----

Good luck with this lovely project.

Florence

That fence is wonderful...what character is has!

Now when your border has grown some...please show us some more pictures. I can't even begin to imagine how lovely it will be. Lucky you to have that to watch it grow into a beautiful border!!!

Deb

What a great project - you must be thrilled after the long wait to plant! Those old concrete posts are cool, I like the idea of rebar tripods in the back to support your climbers. My advice, just get rid of the boards and don't replace them. It'll be much easier to get in to do maintenance on the back side (like mulching, weeding and pruning.) Trying to get through just two rows of staggered roses can rip you up pretty good. I just pulled some thorns out of my scalp the other day! And Florence is right, that fence will disappear once those climbers mature.

Please post pics next spring! I'm sure it will be a wonderful garden you'll be very proud of.

You are doing this so well - good spacing on the roses, and a great selection! I'm with everyone else about the posts - not only is it ok that they lean, but it's rather nice. One thing that our gardens tend to lack is patina, any sense of having been around for a while. Your new garden starts out with that feeling, which is a great advantage.
Anita

Thank you, thank you -- I appreciate your kind words. I so enjoy following the progress of everyone else's gardens, it's nice to have the beginnings of mine to share.

Not to worry. There's no way I could take the patina off 50 year old concrete. I have to do some stabilization on the cracked ones to keep them from deteriorating any further. (concrete adhesive and metal bands should do quite nicely). Three of the worst ones, that you can't see in the photo, completely fell apart while the forsythia was being taken down. Water infiltration rusted the center iron support completely away in spots. I plan to use their cannonball tops in the garden in some way. (gosh, they're heavy)

Everyone will definitely get to follow my progress with this part of the garden and others. We all love photos, don't we? If you're convenient to the area, I enjoy having visitors and meeting new people -- I call my GW friends my 'Internet dates'. Things in the garden should be cooking along really well by the time we have the 2nd annual plant swap gathering at my house next fall. I have plans spinning around in my head for a series of arches by the detached garage covered with my new climbers . . . and the Van Fleet roses on the other front fence . . . and the modern cutting-style garden . . . and a cottage style garden by the workshop building . . . and what to do with all these Austins? Lots of planning to do over the winter. Goodie, goodie.

Connie

My Connie, you have been a busy girl. It looks fabulous, I cannot wait to see it in person. I "finished" my new rose garden Sunday, I planted 400+ bulbs - I have the aches and moans to prove it. I planted the butter and eggs daffys I got from you front and center. We should do a daffy swap this year, like yours, a lot of mine are rescued and I don't know the names. You will have to come visit to see which ones you would like.

Robert I too have a load of mulch coming soon. I have a couple of woodchucks in my neighborhood and I am going to try some of their free mulch. I was hoping to get some earlier, but since we have not had many bad storms this year, business is extremely slow. I would like for it to sit and cook for awhile before I put it around my roses. I may have to once again visit the local sawmill with the huge pile of seasoned oak mulch.

Kathy

I know this is an old post but I am very curious to see what the garden looks like today.

....me too, I'd love to see it now.... when I first saw this I thought it was recent and just realised how old it is... and that's quite an eccentric fence going on there.... fun...