I never wanted a Rose Garden.

Really, I didn't want to get started with roses. They are touchy and time-consuming. No time to deal with them. Then, I was gifted by my little sister (what got into her?) with a drought-resistant, hardy tea rose that has provided me with many summers of pleasure. It does need to be sprayed a couple times every summer since a 1/4" worm likes its leaves, and I do cut it back every fall or spring. It is delightful in full bloom, but it has no odor. For some reason, my husband (JR) decided to start a rose garden three years ago. It's actually The Sunken Rose Garden as he didn't return the soil from the sod to the same spot. The roses are varied and need to be sprayed, and also delight; but again they have no odor. A friend just offered up a cutting from her rose that came from a cutting from a bush on the family farm; that bush had been there for years and years. Heirloom. It has a wonderful smell! With it's very bushy appearance and very thorny branches, it's hard not to spot it; and I realized two other properties in town have it. By the post office I stooped to smell the last of the blooms before they turned to (very large) hips, and it left a couple thorns in my thumb! Now that I have one (JR planted it in his garden, which I do help tend), I'll learn not to just grab and sniff. And I really don't mind having a Rose Garden--just not too big.