When I lived in California, I had a marvelous Rose Garden that required very little care to keep it looking beautiful. In southern Arkansas the roses practically took over my gardens. Then I moved to Minnesota and had a rough time nursing my Rose Garden through many tough winters. Now in Alaska I had given no thoughts to having a Rose Garden until I purchased those three rose bushes.
I had been happy planting hostas, peonies, lilies and my various lovely ground covers. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the pansies that wilted and died in the Minnesota humid summers, not only thrived but came back year after year in a lovely way that threatens to take over my gardens. I love the Asiatic Lilies that grow three feet tall because of the midnight sunshine and the many other flowers that are bigger than any I had in the lower 48.
So why did I rush out and buy three rose bushes? Good question. I came home all excited with my lovely purchases and then the reality of what I had done set in. This purchase forced me to look around and see that none of my out-of-control gardens were suitable for these lovely roses. I knew from growing roses in Minnesota that I should be careful where I planted them, so as to ensure ample snow cover in the winter. Also to keep them away from too much competition from the somewhat invasive plants growing in my current gardens.
I looked around and decided that if I extended the garden against the south facing fence I could give my three roses a sunny area a short distance from the fence. This area is the part of my yard that that collects a snow berm in the winter, so I knew the roses would get plenty of snow cover