The secret to my roses

My roses are loved by my neighbors. Every time that I am out weeding or tending to the roses, one neighbor will always come up to me and tell me how pretty they are. One of my rose bushes was even stolen, uprooted or whatever. I woke up one day and there were only three left!

The kind that I have are the semi-wild ones. Small buds that are imperfect and rustic. Which I love. Surprisingly, a rose bush would sometimes have one pinkish colored bud and a red bud. It's amazing.

I would love to take credit for my roses, but I can't. I don't particularly like gardening specially in this humid weather. My roses bloom in such huge quantities due to my utter laziness. Let me explain from the beginning.

I had this dream of having a fabulous and lush pocket garden in front of my house. I went out and bought several plants. I started with white and yellow flowers (no idea what they're called) that bloomed all year long. Neighbors loved that I always had flowers blooming in my garden. Neighbors asked for cuttings whenever they see me outside (which is very very rare). Pretty soon, the cute harmless little flowers started dominating everything. They're like weeds. The cute garden was later on christened as "the gubat" (forest). I had to uproot them. Who knows what creatures lurk under the brush. Then I had the hibiscus phase, which the aphids loved and killed within a matter of months. Scratch that idea again. I hate using pesticides because they kill the beneficial bugs too.

The latest incarnation is a combination of Rosal (which haven't bloomed since I got it 2 years ago), a olive like tree that came with the house, my mother's pink lilies, basil, sage and my beloved roses. It still looks forest-like except for the bright red blooms and the occasional pink lilies. There is no rhyme nor reason to the placement of the flowers except that I placed them exactly where the water runs when I drain the washing machine. Yup, that's the secret. Laundry water. I don't know what's in the detergent but they seem to work. Someone asked me the other day, what's your secret? "Umm.....Ariel?"

Here's a typical weekly cutting.



I planted my roses during the rainy season a couple of years back. Since it was raining all the time, there's no need to water them. Summer came, and they almost dried up because I don't like hauling water outside. So, I had the bright idea of extending the washing machine hose so that they drain directly to the pocket garden. The gravel that I placed on the garden soil filters the water. My 3 to 4 times a week laundry seems to provide all the nourishment that the flowers need. I just had to weed occasionally (umm... that means almost never), and deadhead the blooms (that means cut) weekly so that they can sprout more blooms later on. Less hassle on my part and more flowers for everyone to enjoy.