So after my post yesterday about the wild roses (above), Connie from Hartwood Roses informed me about a disease called Rose Rosette Disease infecting the wild rose population all over. She described the reddish contorted growth that's a symptom of the disease and yep, a few of our wild rose bushes have it. So I'm just in from hacking away at them. (A far cry from cutting roses and frolicking with my 2 year old. haha) We're going to have to take out all of the infected bushes. There are still a ton of unifected ones but I'm thinking chances are slim they won't be infected eventually. Oh so sad. (Good news - it's not on that huge group of buches that goes 20 or so feet high into the trees! And I'm not hacking 'till they get it.)
Thoughts in my mind as I tried to untangle a particularly huge-won't-let-go-rose vine from a tree reminded me of the priest's from The Exorcist:
"Release him!"
"Foul beast!"
"I command you to leave!!"
...or maybe some type of pandemic outbreak movie:
to Christian: "The roses are sick."
"Don't touch."
"We can't let it spread"
oh well. never dull. ;)
xoxo,
lauren