A rose by any other name...

(posted by Heather)

Mom & Dad Hazelwood were so kind as to send us an Jackson & Perkins Aromatherapy Rose Bush and as luck would have it - Mom H was in town to help us plant it.

So, we carefully followed the instructions, soaking the roots in water over night, digging the hole to the exact right size, filling it with water and ensuring it had proper drainage, adding more water half-way through the planting process, etc...

See how proud we are?

Then, we went into the house to clean up and Becci grabbed Ernie's leash and returned to the yard to take him for a walk. Only to find him happily chewing on the rose bush, which he had pulled out of its carefully planted location... Becci quickly removed him from the yard so as I would not kill him.
And, I re-dug the hole and re-planted the rose bush. And surrounded it with chicken wire. Mom and I were laughing so hard we cried. And the neighbor came out to find out what all the commotion was about. When we told her she responded, "Oh, I hope Ernie didn't hurt himself!" I quickly stated, "I hope he DID!" She didn't share in my humor but Mom did and quickly commented that perhaps she should have selected a thornier variety of rose.
Here's hoping that sucker grows.