Along the Picket Fence: Seven Sisters Rambler Rose

I was a military brat. There was no white picket fence around my many yards. What I learned about gardening then was scratched out in patches just large enough to grow a tomato and a few marigolds without forfeiting the security deposit. I suppose when I chose the bones (the hardscaping which anchors the landscaping) for my present day gardens, it wasn't just to establish boundaries for garden beds. I needed to delineate a place called home.

The white picket fence is a thing of beauty, enhanced only by proliferous blooms spilling through the empty space between vertical supports. The following spring after our house was built, we set about installing all the fencing. The fence took our property from barren lot to established residence; the white pickets gave it curbside charm. Then, by adding the curving flow of garden beds to further define the greenspace, our new build became quintessentially characterized.

• To quickly add curving, flowing garden beds without going to great expense, I suggest using rolled edging. This type of edging immediately defines the bed from the greenspace and is essential in the control of weeds. The rolled edging is also a nice barrier to weedeat against.

One of the first perennials I planted along the picket fence was my Seven Sisters Rambler Rose. I can't recommend this variety enthusiastically enough. What a hardy specimen! In the past four years, Seven Sisters has weathered every extreme condition the Midwest climate can dish out. It has tolerated two severe droughts and a horrendous late spring freeze that wiped out some fairly stealthy perennials. The name Seven Sisters is derived from its multiple bloom sets, as many as seven roses per cluster. Often thought of as the romantic wild rose of the Old South, Seven Sisters arrived in Europe, and later in the United States, in the late 1800's from Japan.

Mine begins to bloom around the last week of May and continues typically through the first week of June. From the palest pink to the deepest orchid, the array of color is breathtaking. The double blossoms are profuse and resemble the cabbage rose on a tinier scale. Unfortunately for those of us who cherish this rose, it blooms only once per season.

Just this past summer, my Seven Sisters rose began to send out long, whispy canes. I can hardly wait for spring '09. Imagine the beauty of those double blossoms spilling over the white picket fence.