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Peggy Martin, a rose for our time

8/22/2018

15 Comments

 
Peggy Martin has found her voice and she's not afraid to use it.

No, Peggy Martin is not the new cast member in the latest Real Housewives franchise. She's a climbing rose, and she means business.
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Peggy Martin on a good day.

For the uninitiated, Peggy Martin is an incredibly tough, not to say indestructible, climber who came to fame after surviving 2 weeks under water following Hurricane Katrina. Her reputation for strength is what drew me to her, but of course it didn't hurt that she was gorgeous. I loved her when I met her and I love her now. But lately, all we do is argue. 
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Peggy Martin in her garden magazine pose
Things were fine in the beginning. Quart-sized Peggy was so sweet and innocent when I brought her home, kind of like the pollywog in Stranger Things. I had just installed a shiny new trellis and with her help I was going to make the cover of some English garden magazine. Peggy couldn't have been more obliging, obediently threading her way up the lattice and bursting into sensational bloom in spring. She was refined. She was elegant. She was my gardening dream come true. 
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Peggy does what Peggy wants.
Those were the days. Today, Peggy is no longer interested in being a prop in my twisted English garden magazine fantasies. On the contrary, she seems to be showing, if I may borrow a phrase from Miss Bingley in Pride and Prejudice, "an abominable sort of conceited independence."  Nobody tells her what to do. 
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Yes, Peggy has her own agenda and it does not involve sitting politely with her hands folded. Peggy has lately informed me in no uncertain terms that she is sick of refined and has no interest in elegant. Further: she can no longer squeeze into a size 6 and deeply resents being told she should. And while we are on the subject, it was not she who chose such a pathetically small trellis in the first place. Bottom line: Peggy needs to be her "authentic self."  
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At first I tried reasoning with her. I understand, I said. You feel demeaned, objectified. You are tired of being defined by the reductionist patriarchal view of your role in this garden.  But you're a rose, for heaven's sake. It's your job to be ornamental.  (OK, now I was lecturing her.) We live in a society, I continued. You can't just do whatever you want. Do you see me walking the dog in my pajamas? No you don't. And it's not because I don't want to.

Powerful arguments, but Peggy was unimpressed. So I reached for the loppers. Strike 2. Severe pruning got me less than nowhere (not for nothing is it also called "rejuvenation" pruning). The effect lasted about a month, after which Peggy looked like Alice in Wonderland after the "Drink Me" episode.  
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Alice after an ill-advised drink. Or was it rejuvenation pruning?

So for now there's a standoff. Peggy demands respect; I want the old Peggy back. Peggy is the Madwoman in the Attic; I am a horticultural lookist. We can't go on like this. We're running out of room. 

15 Comments
Anne Himmelfarb
8/27/2018 05:10:31 pm

Sarah, another sad and hilarious post. Maybe "her" motto is, "I gotta be me," so you will be the one who needs to adapt (bigger trellis, maybe?). It looks absolutely gorgeous in bloom, though!

Does it smell nice? One thing I don't like about my fairly rose is that it has no fragrance at all.

Reply
Sarah/Galloping Horse Garden link
8/28/2018 07:16:07 am

You're absolutely right. I need a bigger trellis, or another one of the same size that I can stick next to it. Trying to install it should be interesting.
Yes, the rose has a very nice aroma. Not powerful, but nice when you get up close. And the bees and even the hummingbirds seem to like it.

Reply
Joan Auclair
8/27/2018 08:51:05 pm

It almost doesn't matter what you write, I'm so happy to see a post from you. But this tops them.

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Sarah/Galloping Horse Garden link
8/28/2018 07:17:24 am

Joan, you are too kind. I appreciate it.

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Barbara H.
8/28/2018 09:33:15 am

Oh my gosh, I laughed out loud when I scrolled down and saw your trellis. I also said "Oh s**t" if I want to be completely truthful. Thank you SO MUCH for bringing me to my senses. I've seen pictures of Peggy Martin before and been beguiled but age related short term memory has kept me from the mistake of searching her out to plant in my own garden. Now I know - no Peggy Martin for me. Good luck - hope you can find a way to tame her.

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Sarah/Galloping Horse Garden link
8/28/2018 04:39:49 pm

Well, if you have an estate with a cottage you'd like to cover, Peggy Martin is perfect for the job.

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Sue link
8/28/2018 10:58:17 am

Ha ha ha ha ha...for all that trouble Peggy could at least rebloom. Nice to see a post from you, Sarah!

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Sarah/Galloping Horse Garden link
8/28/2018 04:36:06 pm

Thanks! Peggy does occasionally re-bloom for me but you can't see it under the mess of branches.

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Jason link
8/30/2018 05:46:53 pm

Very amusing post. I like that she has those masses of flowers and a nice fragrance. In my opinion, it is always easier to let a plant be more or less itself, but that's just me.

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Sarah/Galloping Horse Garden link
8/31/2018 06:55:33 am

Peggy and I both agree.

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Casa Mariposa link
9/2/2018 03:58:59 pm

I love Peggy!! I really miss my Peggy Martin rose and wish I had the sun for a new one. I've tried to scout out a location but just don't have the sun. I love how exuberant she is. She is loud and proud and a total badass. Yours is gorgeous!

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Casa Mariposa link
9/2/2018 08:25:34 pm

I'd walk my dog in my pajamas.

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Sarah/Galloping Horse Garden link
9/3/2018 05:28:25 pm

It's about the only thing I don't do. Going to the supermarket covered in garden dirt and sweat is just fine, of course.

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Phillip link
11/27/2018 09:01:12 pm

Beautiful! I have almost bought this rose several times. I wonder how it would do trailing over a wall?

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Sarah/Galloping Horse Garden link
11/28/2018 06:19:24 am

I'm sure it would do just fine - as long as it was a really big wall!

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    The Galloping Horse Gardener is a native New Yorker who packed it in in 2005 to live under the radar in Cary, North Carolina. In 2014, she removed to a new secure location somewhere in Raleigh.

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