Before we sold the family homestead on Kent Lane in the Mayflower section of Wilkes-Barre, my sister and I dug up the "Seven Sisters" rose bush that had been on the property for, at minimum, 50 years. To be honest, as careful as I was keeping as much of the root system intact, based upon what came out of the ground once we cut through one of the largest roots...I did not hold out much hope.
There are several versions of who gave the rose bush to my grandparents and when. Some say my late Uncle John, others say my Uncle Stanley and his wife Jean. Somewhere I have a pic of a very young Stan & Jean standing by it, so if I had to take my best guess...who knows? The timeframe of it being planted was anywhere from the late 1940's to the ~mid 1950's.
In late October, I chose the best spot available at my home, dug a fairly wide & deep hole, amended the soil to give the roots that remained the best chance of growing quickly in our heavy clay soil, surrounded the base of the bush with 3 or four inches of finely mulched leaves...and hoped for the best.
Yesterday, as I was watering the plant and filling the birdbath next to it, I noticed a good amount of new growth emerging on some of the outer stems.
To some, it's just a scraggly old bush.
To me, it's a living connection to the past, and as the new owners of the Kent Lane property have removed everything in the second pic above - the front hedges that were at least 80 years old, the Dogwood tree I planted for my Mom on Mother's Day in ~1980, the arborvitae planted by my Dad, ...and the old clothes line pole erected by my Grandfather - I have no doubt the rose bush would have been ripped out as well.
For now...it lives on.
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