Native wildflowers beat my fancy hybrid roses by a mile

I spent $60 on two hybrid tea rose bushes from a nursery in Portland last spring, and they got black spot and aphids within weeks. Meanwhile the goldenrod and purple coneflowers I grabbed from a ditch nearby grew like crazy with zero care. The bees don't even look at the roses anymore, they go straight to the wild stuff. Anyone else given up on fussy garden center plants for local weeds?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren8261mo ago

Drowned my wallet in rose food just to watch a dandelion thrive in the crack of my driveway.

lee_bailey651mo ago

Two bags of that expensive rose food cost me about sixty bucks last spring, @wren826. What made you keep pouring money into it even after you saw that dandelion showing up, though? I figure most folks would have just given up and let nature take its course at that point.