Warm enough for yard work.

When young and naive we planted a winter-hardy grootendorst rose. We were unaware of its affectionate nature, and set it about a meter from the sidewalk.

Since today the weather is sunny and pleasant (about 45F) I decided to dispose of it before it succeeded in snaring unsuspecting school children.

One youngster came up to ask if he could help, and was disappointed when I explained that gloves were not much use with this beast--I had to grasp the branches with the clippers. You can't find a square cm without a couple/ten inward-pointing thorns, and some are nearly 2cm long.

The roses were pretty, the scent was nice, it bloomed half the year long, and robins could nest inside safely. But I shudder to think what would have happened if a cyclist took a spill there.

It was taller than I, and quite a bit wider, with the longest branches looming towards the sidewalk. When you clip a stem it typically clings in place, entangled to the rest, and must be dragged out to its destiny in the trash barrel. To keep from having lancets climb out of the barrel, I clip and reclip until the chunks are less than a foot long, then lop the next stem. That took a bit over an hour; next comes the hard part. Last time I dug up a rose root I nearly broke the shovel.