a rose by any other name

India love roses... and she loves pumpkins... She enjoys tending to them and picking them and she enjoys just taking them in... We have a beautiful yellow rose beside our front porch as you come up the steps because India has taken excellent care of it all summer. When the japanese beetles showed up she was deligent in pulling them off and telling them to LEAVE HER ROSE ALONE! When the stink bugs crawl around on them, she pulls them off, she keeps it watered and she's been pulling the dead buds off... Well, last night as we were sitting outside taking in the great weather, she decided she was overdue pulling those dead buds off because it is loaded with new ones and it's still putting energy into the dead buds. Pulling them off helps the rose put more into its new growth. Jason suggested she use the pruning shears which I don't think she had been using. Now, Jason is picky when it comes to pruning. He has such an eye for making plants beautiful through pruning and he really sees where the place is going when he cuts something off of it, so watching him watch India was so sweet I had to go in and get my camera! She came in and got the shears and some gloves to protect her from the thorns, and clipped off the buds, but she left some of the stem sticking up (that is exactly how I would have done it). Jason pointed out to her she could cut it back far enough down the plant to hide it under the blooms that are coming and it would just look like it was perfect. Good point, India took it and it looks great. He then explained where to cut it to get new growth each year and why he does that and what it does for the plant. Talk about a wonderful science lesson... It was dark outside and she was pruning under the lamp, but the rose is gorgeous and the next time she goes out there to clip it, she will know what to do and why!
Here are the picks I took!




This one is right after the first one when he was explaining why to cut a little lower you can see her pruners are high in the first and lower in the second.