A Rose is a Rose

When we first bought our house in March of 2007, the right side of our house (now the "utility yard") was completely open and covered in grass. The ground was lumpy and the drainage was terrible (the previous owners were really cheap and never installed gutters on that side of the house).

We decided to build a fence that summer. Here you can see the beginnings of our fence post installation and the two honeysuckle vines I'd planted on the park fence. I love seeing old pictures like this because those vines are SO BIG now!
The first generation of our fence was done using old boards we found behind my dad's barn. He said they had previously been on two other fences. They were super ratty and often split when we nailed them, but overall they did the job just fine:
Later we found better used redwood lumber up in Gualala in John's burn pile. These boards had been part of the decks at the hotel downtown. Dave ripped the boards lengthwise so we could use them as fencing. It looks so much better now, even though you can tell they are used. I kind of like it that way, because then it doesn't look so out-of-place right next to our other old fencing. Notice the hole my darling Potatoes made while escaping from the yard last summer...
Last spring we bought some climbing roses from Costco, two pinks and two yellows. When I planted them they were hardly more than sticks. I was super excited when they showed signs of life (it meant I hadn't killed them!) and even more excited when they started growing. My goal is to have beautiful, flower-covered vines over the gates and some of the fences.

Here's a rose from last year:

And now look at them! This pink one really took off last summer and didn't bloom at all. Its energy went to growth, not blooms. It is rewarding us big-time this year. I think it looks so pretty.

From inside the yard, complimented by those sexy new gravel paths:

From the driveway:

I can't wait until the yellow one on the other side of the gate catches up and begins climbing over the gate, too. Climbing roses will bloom if their branches are allowed to go horizontal. So my goal for this spring is to keep tying the yellow rose branches onto the fence to keep them vertical so they'll climb instead of bloom.

It is supposed to reach the 90s over the next few days, which my plants will love, but my body will not. I've always loved the heat but this fetus is making me uncomfortable even in 75 degree weather. I hate to think how I'll feel when Davis reaches midsummer temperatures that are a good 30 degrees hotter than that. Whew...