First Rose of the Season

When we moved into our house, we had eight very overgrown rose bushes in the backyard. I was excited -- I've never had roses before. They always seemed like something older or more established gardners grow. They come back year after year, meaning lots of time to watch them grow over the years. Fun, but didn't seem worth growing them in college/grad school since I never had the space(college)/water(grad school) & I knew I wasn't going to be living in a place for more than a few years at a time.

But now. Eight bushes. All blooming size. Wow. I read the rose websites on how to care for them. Trim them back to around your hip in the fall after blooming season (so the winter wind & snow (if applicable) don't break off branches. OK, done. Then around president's day (mid-late february), you trim them back again to right above the knee (so any shoots that have popped up early won't get a chance to get whacked off by a late-season frost; last frost date here is April 15th). OK, done.

So if I've done all that, explain to me why everyone else's roses in Portland (who didn't trim them back) seem to have a million blooms right now while mine are just starting out. I know we've had a mild winter (so trimming roses back probably wasn't that necessary), but man. I have been jealous.

Until today.

Our first rose opened over the night. Light pink and sweet smelling.

It's going to be a great weekend; we have a ton more blooms on the way.