The rose fence and winter cleanup

There's a gate across the drive outside the pasture, and a line of fence that runs from there to the edge of the woods. The gate and the fence are to keep the horses from running up the driveway if they were to somehow get out of the pasture. "The rose fence" is a place for roses that are much too large to grow on a standard trellis. In the beginning, 'Mermaid' was the only rose on the fence. It grew in the part shade of a pine tree and I quite liked the butter yellow flowers in spite of the incredibly vicious thorns. Then the pine tree started to list dangerously to one side, undermined by the fast-moving water in the ditch that runs between the gate and the fence. Now in the full sun, the flowers faded to buttermilk white, which I didn't like as much. Then the rose contracted rose rosette disease and had to be removed. The rose was so large I enlisted DH's help to get rid of it.

Then I acquired what was supposed to be 'Seven Sisters' in a trade, but which turned out to be what I think is 'Dorothy Perkins'. DP looks much better growing on a fence rather than on the ground (where it grows wild along the roadsides here), as it doesn't contract fungus there.

'Dorothy Perkins'

Swamp rose and 'Dorothy Perkins'

I grew a rose from cuttings that grew behind the Glen Lennox shopping center in Chapel Hill and had admired for years, ever since I saw it there when I was in college. (The drive through for the bank there is at the back of the shopping center.) That rose turned out to be 'Alberic Barbier', IDed by another blogger when I posted about it.

'Alberic Barbier'

This area is a mess right now, as I haven't gotten in there and cut down the woody plants and blackberries that inevitably grow up around the roses for at least a couple of years. Things like Chinese privet, sweetgums and red maples grow fast. I'm going to need to get in there and clear out the briars and saplings so G. can finish cleaning up with the chainsaw.

I ordered 'Rambling Rector' after seeing it on Phillip's blog Dirt Therapywhen he lived in Alabama.

There are reasons for this neglect. Three years ago we had to start soaking the horses' hay because the pony has insulin resistence. Too much sugar in insulin resistent horses results in inflammation in the soft tissues of the foot, a condition known as laminitis. No one knows why the feet are affected but it's a serious and painful condition. If there's too much damage to the soft tissues (called laminae) that attach to the hoof capsule, the laminae can start to die and the hoof capsule separate from it. Typically this first part to detach is the toe, causing the hoof and bone to rotate downwards, a condition known as founder. In catastrophic cases the entire hoof capsule separates from the laminae, which is called sinking and is very difficult to recover from. Soaking the hay for half an hour reduces the sugars. This process adds about an hour to taking care of the horses each day, so that cuts into my gardening time, but the pony is more than worth it. We've had her 20 years and she's a very sweet pony. She has overall been doing well and is sound.

Because I'm a sucker for anything purple, I also ordered a purple rose whose name escapes me now.
I can't find it in my garden folder, or on my blog. Last time I checked there was stil a tag at the
base of the rose, so perhaps I'll find it again after clearing.

Gene's responsibilities at work have increased. He used to take care of the horses Friday night but I need to do it now because he's too busy. The third reason is fibro, which is always worse in winter. However, I've been able to make changes that have made the condition much better and I hope that continues into the cold wet weather season.

Unknown wildflower at base of roses - some sort of campion?

I spend all winter trying to clean up messes that have grown up over the summer as best I can. I don't want to clear places where birds are nesting and they always build nests along the rose fence, as there is excellent cover there (especially these past couple of summers lol). So winter is the time to work on stuff like this. Plus layers help prevent scratches from thorns - thorns from blackberries and the roses. On Saturday I worked clearing briars for nearly 2 hours, to be rewarded with the site of a lot of deadwood. The roses are not dead, because 'Alberic Barbier' is still throwing canes everywhere, but it might mean more cleanup after clearing all of the blackberries, saplings and trumpet vine. This is going to take some time.