Life Lessons Learned While Pruning Roses

I would argue that there really is no better scent than a fresh garden rose. I am fortunate that the entire front of our house is lined with rose bushes, and I have the opportunity to smell fresh roses throughout the year. 

I have to admit, however, when we first moved in, I was quite intimidated by them. 

I have always had an affinity to roses. My grandmother had a rose garden in her backyard. She lived alone and enjoyed looking out at her yard and admiring the roses blossoming. When she passed away, our family transplanted her rose bushes to my uncle’s home. He created a special garden specifically to house her plants and playfully named it “Gramms’s Garden”. Often I will notice a flowering bud in my yard that appears so unique, like she’s trying to send me some secret message and watching over me. My best friend and I frequently talk about our life in retirement, arranging florals and living this zen, relaxed lifestyle. She recently has turned these thoughts into a new passion project. She is currently building an urban flower farm that is highlighting the garden rose, and I could not be more proud of her. 

I have never been one to have a “green thumb”. I grew up in the Midwest where you could literally drop a plant into a hole and be successful with the fertile soil. I have tried gardening in Arizona on several different occasions. The first was in college, where I used my lab chemistry skills to measure pH, salt levels, mineral levels and thought I would try to balance the normally acidic Arizona soil- that did not turn out well. I had another opportunity when a patient offered to share a garden plan to create a polycultural organic garden. I thought I had all of the tools, but ended up with worms, some random fungal infection (not me, the plants) and still no homegrown food.

So how would I care for multiple rose bushes in my new home? They seemed so harsh and the branches so thick, quite intimidating to a novice pruner. Did they need a special diet? How do I start? I asked my friends for their opinions, bought a book about pruning (but could not find my varietal) and did multiple online searches. Finally after speaking with a friend’s mother who said, “just listen to your instincts, the plant will show you what it needs”, I got started.

To my surprise, I enjoyed the process. Even more surprising, I found that pruning roses taught me a lot about life.

Lesson #1

Just get started. So many times we shuffle our feet before taking that first leap into an adventure or opportunity. We hesitate, we reconsider, we worry, we think of every reason to not start, but if we can just take that first step, the path begins.  

Lesson #2

Flowers do not grow well on busy plants- keep it simple. When you allow many branches to stem off a bush, the branches will compete for attention, and the result will be less flowers and an aggressive, complicated bush. The same goes for our lifestyle. When we have so many things going on in our lives, we limit our ability to “flower” in one area. We need to trim back the extra, so we can allow our true passions and dreams to grow uninhibited.

Lesson #3

Be prepared to pivot. Whenever a rose flowers, that entire stem will die and you must trim off the entire stem or “cane” for a new branch to continue to grow. The plant will literally pivot and grow perpendicular from the previous dead flower. We can see this in life. When one opportunity or relationship comes to an end, we must be able to pivot and move forward to find our path, even if that area of our life was previously so beautiful. I have seen this a lot with changes in health. Many times something changes drastically and dramatically. We must deliberately pivot to find our new course.

Lesson #4

Learn from your past, but keep moving forward. Pruning rose bushes tells a story. It tells you what has worked and what does not. Learn from those mistakes and keep moving forward. You all remember the definition of insanity???…

Lesson #5

Regular self-care is vital to keeping yourself healthy. I have to admit, this year after having my third baby, my roses were not a priority. I waited months and months before pruning and have had, as a result, a far less flower yield this spring. Keeping yourself on a regular self-care schedule, will keep you vibrant. 

Lesson #6

Recognize the problem and fix the root of the problem early, to avoid having to deal with a mess later. If you start to get off-track in life, or develop a problem with your health or relationships, “Nip it in the bud”! 

Lesson #7

Finally, remember the most beautiful flowers grow from the most harsh stems. You have to get through those rough times to reveal the beauty ahead. It is so worth the wait- do not give up!

“We need to trim back the “extra”, so we can allow our true passions and dreams to grow uninhibited. ”