To keep or not to keep - that`s the question...

I think the trouble nowadays is all this " instant gardening " , buy a plant in full flower, plant it and then chuck it at the end of the season. That's not gardening at all.

Not guilty As far as I am concerned, these decisions in anyone`s garden are about preferences, space, and practicality.
I prefer my roses tied in a bunch to put in a vase, but in my smaller garden they are a nuisance.
I rarely ''chuck'' anything, hardly ever buy annuals, have worked for years in propagation of shrubs and climbers, and have grown most of my trees from seed.
As the years go by I like to make room for the plants that work for me.

 

Trouble with instant garden plants..usually for the summer only.....is that structure, size and form is missing
Perennials though are far more cost effective, get better year on year and less maintenance is required......I agree with Scudo about the spending habits of many. The garden centres in spring are full of temporary quick fix "annuals" meaning many gardens never really develop remaining the same year after year

 

One of the few pleasant gardening surprises here was how well roses do. They start flowering in early April and have flush after flush until Christmas. Perhaps the abundance of WRFYM helps☺ Check out Pierre de Ronsard and say, hand on heart, that it isn't worth a bit of effort....

 

Hi @noisette47 ,

What's. " WRFYM " ?

PS..... Ours also regularly do April to mid January.

We have a fantastic deep red " Fragrant Cloud " which has supplied us with cut flowers on Christmas Day for the last six or seven years.

 

Hi @KFF, Sorry..the French love their acronyms....well-rotted farmyard manure to me and you There are lots of mixed dairy/beef/arable farms round here Clay soil with a hefty annual mulch seems to suit roses to perfection I can live with the blackspot.....

 

but do the roses?

 

...

I fall somewhere between these two camps and not ashamed to admit it!

There is a place for a bit of "instant" gardening - definitely where I first dipped my fingers into the compost. While I've not got quite as far as growing trees from seed, I did pop 4 bits of Thuja Occidentalis "Yellow Ribbon" into a pot a year ago rather than throw them away and they have rooted and are growing nicely.

In my world, some plants thrive, others do not; there is no overall grand design, just me pottering about trying a bit of this and a bit of that. I call it "playing" and I enjoy playing in the garden and get as excited as the next person when something flourishes. What doesn't fit or flourish goes into the compost bin to add its energy to the next attempts at playing.

This week I'm off out to get some "instant gardening" for my square of garden at the front of my house because now the wallflowers, honeybells and daylilies have finished blooming, I'd like some colour there while I work out quite what I want the space to look like.

 

The weather here is as bad, if not worse than it is in Scotland, but I still have an abundance of blooms on my roses. As regards blooms being destroyed in wet weather, then that really is down to choosing the incorrect rose. Some blooms do get damaged in heavy rain, whilst others dont.

 

M, nothing wrong with that. I am currently growing wallflowers to plant out in autumn...just as I do every year. I grow a few cosmos too....always want them in the garden.
I must admit seeing a small garden full of marigolds....it was a wonder to behold, the owner loved them as did his neighbours......and enjoying it. However, for me it would have been mainly permanent stuff but it shows there is room for everyone's taste and our world is so much the better for it

 

Unfortunately I inherited the roses when I bought this house.

 

My house came with rose bushes everywhere. I have taken most of them out. They grew in the most inconvenient places and just looked awful. I have kept the two in the front yard. They flower pretty well. I'm hoping with a bit of thought I can bring a bit of shape back to them.

G.