Bonica in Better Days

This was a lovely rose in its day. Huge four-foot shrub that was about five feet across, loaded with blooms every spring. But it went into a slump over the past few years. Since it's planted right at the front door, it was downright embarrassing the last two seasons. So it's gone. I've been pouring over the garden catalogs trying to decide which rose could replace it. But I saw a comment from one of the bloggers the other day, who said roses were a plant that would flourish for the first three years then die a slow gradual death right in front of her eyes. And that's exactly what our experience was. We babied, watered, fed, begged, pleaded, prayed, fought off blackspot and japanese beetles with gallons of spray--and we still had to euthanize it. So I'm thinking that we should do something different. Maybe a tree peony? I've never grown those, but Sandy has a glorious white one in her garden. Or something easy-to-grow, like a butterfly bush that will turn into a living sculpture in August and September with butterflies whirling all around it. Or a japanese maple. Maybe all three. I could just get Mark out there with a shovel and plant the whole front yard. . . It just has to start getting warm soon. Being cooped up in the house with 18 degrees below zero wind chill makes me stir crazy. A few hours gardening out there and I will be thinking much more sensibly. . . Okay, back to the gardening catalogs!