Irises: Someone help me make up my mind. PLEASE, 0 by lovelyiris

lovelyiris wrote:
Ok, here's the deal. I have these Old Wild Cherokee Rambling Roses that I planted in one of my front beds a few years ago. They have huge long runners and everywhere they touch the ground they root and then you have another plant. Anyway, these are the same roses that the indians used to mark trails and so forth with many many years ago. The roses blooms are beautiful single pink and the entire thing is completely covered in blooms for about 3 weeks out of the year. That's it!!! Unfortunately, they are also covered with the most awful thorns you've ever seen. The thorns are worse than goucho wire, which is a type of barbed wire. I want them out of this bed. I've been thinking about just tossing a big chain around them and dragging them out of the beds with the John Deere and putting them in the burn pile. I've pruned these suckers several times but they are a death trap and reach out and get you anytime you get near them.

Now you know what I'm dealing with and here's the problem where I want the advice.

Do I get rid of them completely? Or do I use them on both sides of a project my DH is working on for me.

Still looking for the folder that the picture of the rose bushes are in. So I'm posting another rose, our great grandaughter Kamberlynn.

I asked George to cut down a couple of big Cedar trees and make me a huge cross on top of our hill near the road. This was suppose to be my Christmas present but the weather didn't allow it to happen. Then it was suppose to be done by New Years. The weather was still a problem. Now he's got the trees cut down and ready to put them up on top of the hill. Today I got to thinking about the roses and the thorns, and the crown of thorns they put on Jesus head as he hung on the cross. Then I started thinking about transplanting those huge rose bushes (severely pruned) on each side of the cross. If I do transplant them they will spread out over the hill within a couple of years. It will look beautiful when it's it blooms but only for a short time. I could get rid of them and buy some knockout roses when they mark them down and have them on sale. That way the roses would bloom off and on for months on end. Dear garden buddies and friends please be honest with me and tell me what you think I should do.