Today I bought a hybrid tea rose called 'Gypsy' I'm soaking it in water right now since its a bare root plant. I have a couple of mini roses that I bought yesterday, but its been a while since I've had larger roses in my garden. I'm hoping it does well in my garden.

Cameron - Yay!! Gypsy is SUCH a pretty rose (http://www.helpmefind.com/rose...). You stated that you're soaking it 'cuz it's a bareroot. Did you buy this in one of those bags? Make sure that you give it water weekly & feed it (Zuzu puts a banana peel in the hole before she puts the rose in for the potassium) gently as the roses that come in "bodybags" usually don't have a strong root system. I would also mulch around it to protect the base from the heat.

Welcome to the prettiest addiction you can have! With roses, you'll find that you can't have just one!

Thanks so much for the link Toni. That's a beautiful bloom. It came in a bag filled with sawdust. My family does eat a lot of bananas so I'll have to remember to save a few. When should I start feeding it? I just had to buy one because I really do miss roses and their fragrance. I bought two mini roses yesterday for 99 cents lol. I don't need another addiction

Oooh, a mini rose for $0.99? *jealous!!* I can't find them for less than $5 here! Lucky...

Ugh, the bodybag roses. Oh well, I sincerely hope you have MUCH better luck with them than I do. I can never get them to grow.. and if they do, they never grow into the rose they're supposed to be! Depending on your weather (I'm still battling winter here), I'd feed it about 2-3 weeks after putting it in the ground. And since you have just a few roses, I'd use this stuff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UGUWZM/ I've used that stuff before & it works GREAT. I sprinkled it on my roses after I planted them (2gal roses, not bodybags), and then didn't have to feed again until mid summer. But, I don't use it now 'cuz I have too many roses & would go through 10-15 bottles trying to feed them all!

Roses are like Lay's Potato Chips. Can't have just one!

(& BTW, beautiful whiteface 'tiel!! I miss my 'tiel...)

I was shocked when I saw them at the 99 cent only store. I was getting some other garden stuff and I spotted them and had to buy a couple lol. I'm scared now I hope it turns out to be Gypsy and not something else lol.I also have a fortuniana rose that's covered in blooms right now. I'll look for the Miracle Rose food this Spring. I need to get more All Purpose plant food while I'm at it.Wow that's a lot of roses and plant food lol. I only have room for one large rose, I can't really plant anything on the south side of my house because I'm afraid of underground cables and wires, so I'm limited to my flowerbeds on the west side of my house. I have to leave room for my zinnias, cosmos, mexican sunflowers, hardy hibiscus, and several other plants lol.

Thanks so much for the compliment on Tobias. I've had him for 7 years now. My sister's bird is in the corner, we've had her a little longer. I love birds.

BTW your chicks are so cute

I understand about underground cables. One time a few years ago, I got a large crabapple tree, so, what else do you do on a Friday night? Dig a massive hole in your yard! Accidentally cut the Comcast cable. It was buried only like 2-3" deep! I know where it runs now, so I'm VERY careful where I dig & how I dig, especially if I get close to the house. You can always call those numbers to get the lines staked out in your yard. It should be a free service, you just have to get in touch with your providers (electric/phone/gas) to get that done.

Seeing that you're zone 8, how about planters / aboveground beds? Can you do those?

Oh wow, that's how the cables are here, some are buried only a few inches underground. I really like the idea of an above ground flowerbed. I made a new flowerbed earlier in the year and its a raised bed. I have really bad clay soil.