Roses are white...

For Valentine's Day, the Handyman and I agreed that we would treat ourselves to a nice dinner (and a babysitter--thanks Gramma) and get roses that wouldn't die in 5 days. For a while now, I've wanted to plant rose bushes in the little strip of grass between the sidewalk and curb. Fun fact: this little space has a name, actually a bunch of names. According to Wikipedia, it's called a road verge, besidewalk, boulevard, city grass, devil strip, government grass, hellstrip, island strip, nature strip, neutral ground,out lawn, parking strip, parkway, planting strip, road reserve, sidewalk buffer, tree belt, tree lawn, utility strip, or just a verge.

Our neighbor on the West, a certain well-known swim instructor, also has rose bushes and mulch in his hellstrip (heehee). Here's the before pic:

My biggest problem with this space is that it's so ugly and brown in the summer. We don't water the grass so it dies. What you're looking at above is some well-cultivated weeds.

So, we had two strips to dig up, plant, and mulch. So, the Handyman and I headed to the cute little nursery in our neighborhood, Boxwood Nursery and Gifts. A very helpful salesclerk told us all about tea roses and floribundas. We finally settled on these two beauties.

Romantica
Finally a white Hybrid Tea in the popular Romantica series. This true Hybrid Tea combines old-fashioned blooms with good fragrance and exceptional foliage. The blooms are long lasting and perfect for the vase. Selected by the editor of Traditional Home magazine in honor of their Classic Woman Award that honors women for exemplary volunteerism and community service.

Boom! Girl Power! I had to get this one. Plus, it was Valentine's Day and it's called Romantica. Coincidence? I think NOT!

Queen Mary 2

The high centered buds have the distinctive strong fragrance of sweet rose and banana. With excellent disease resistance and winder hardiness, the Hybrid Tea makes a wonderful addition to almost any landscape. Appropriately named after the largest, longest and tallest passenger ship ever conceived, The Queen Mary 2 is a luxurious cruise ship built by the prestigious Cunard Line and launched in the spring of 2004.

If you look closely, the sign says "If you can dig a hole, you can plant a Star." I do believe that describes our DIY level. We can certainly dig a hole. And, who doesn't like the smell of rose and banana? Okay, I've never heard of this smell combo before, but it should be interesting.

So, we got to work and by the end of the first day (about 2 hours total), we ended up with one "besidewalk" mostly finished. Not great progress, but we had to get mulch so it was a good place to stop.

By the end of day two, about another 4 hours. We ended up with this:

We left the little City tree even though we are sure it's mostly dead (insert Princess Bride reference). It could be revived if it's mostly dead but not all the way dead. Only time will tell.

And here's a cool panorama from our front porch.