Goodbye Rose Arbor

I step outside this morning with my cup of coffee; as usual I enjoy viewing the back garden in the chill of the early part of the day. And I must face it; the roses on the rose arbor are not coming back.

The rose arbor used to look like this:





This is what we see now......




You might think, "Well, it's just too early for them yet." But you'd be wrong. I have no idea why they didn't come back this year. The roses in the Moongarden are green and forming buds. The rose in the back bed is green. Even my Heritage rose made it through the winter.
We still have two vines on the back of the arbor; a purple clematis and the Dutchman's Pipe...





So, Kim and I have decided to put an end to the "rose arbor" and replace the roses with.........well, here are our choices.

Some type of honeysuckle...



or passionvine....



or vitis coignetiae (ornamental grape vine which turns bright red in the fall)...



or possibly a Clematis montana, 'Mayleen' (sweetly scented - 20ft)....



I will enjoy shopping and choosing the rose replacements. There is something so fulfilling about gardening. It's not as if I'm in control of my garden, that has never been true. And that is one of the joys of gardening; every year, with or without my assistance, the garden is different. Because it really is alive. Plants come and go without asking. Flowers reseed where I didn't expect them. Even with tender loving care certain stubborn plants just don't do well. It's basically the same with children, as I have to relearn every year, it seems. They have a mind of their own and I can advise and love them, but in the end they make their own decisions in life; either to prosper or to fail.