The roses are gone. I knew this would have to happen as I watched the progression of rose rosette disease (RRD) from one rose to the next. I lost my last set of roses to this and clearly I didn't wait long enough before planting new ones. RRD is from a virus spread by mites and can't really be fixed. The main symptoms were (a) distorted new stems that are red and have a lot of thorns, and (b) leaf distortions, and (c) "witches' broom" flowers. Some photos of the issues below.
During some electrical work earlier this spring we had one rose bush that was basically destroyed so I decided the time had arrived.
Here is the wall in 2019 as it came into bloom.
Here is the trellis after I removed the roses. I still have several kinds of clematis.
The large-leaf clematis is an Apple Blossom. It's an early bloomer and nicely fragrant. Unfortunately, this year a late frost damaged all the buds. It hasn't been well pruned because it was hard to reach in the roses. So yesterday I gave it a nice pruning and took cuttings to replace the plant killed in the electrical upgrade. Here's a photo of the Apple Blossom from 2020 when it had a glorious season.
Ultimately, my plan is to plant more clematis to give me a range of seasons, colors and fragrances, but it will take me a while to select the final plant combination. So, for this season, I decided to plant a bunch of tomato pots for a big crop. A local nursery had San Marzano tomatoes left so I planted those with visions of a freezer full of tomato sauce for the winter.
The final result. Four blue pots of tomatoes (2/pot) and a better-pruned clematis.
The last pot on the left is a blueberry bush from Bushel and Berry. They are selling a new collection of berry plants that live in plots. I'm already reconsidering the use of this space. I may grow the clematis on the upper half of the trellis and fill in with berry bushes. But now I have time to plan.
Goodbye roses. I'll miss you.