My table roses seem to feature often on Publish0x! They're a persevering bunch and brighten up my slightly messy, narrow balcony.
I brought a new bunch from my aunt's place and placed them in 3 spots on the balcony, between pipes and near the wall. I was really looking forward to them thriving and blooming.
My heart sank when I saw that overnight, something had bitten quite a few of them. It may have been squirrels or rats that climb the pipes and eat some of the plants. It broke my heart to sea the bitten stems lying on the soil in the pot.
I quickly deviced a plan to protect them. I first replanted the torn stems as table roses can regrow from the stems. I had plastic bird protection spikes that I put carefully on the pots to prevent the rats and squirrels from accessing the pots and plants. These have blunt spikes on them that deter birds or animals from nesting on windows etc, and I thought they would work for the potted plants too.
It seemed to work. Although the spikes gave the plants less space to grow, the rodents could not get to them and most stems survived. As they grew, they pushed against the plastic and tried to reach the sun. Finally one branch yielded a bud and the bud squeezed through to look at the sun and managed to bloom - almost crushing itself!
How amazing it was too see the delicate, fragile flower in shades of pink and pale, throwing of the scent of victory, nestled between the spikes and the pipes.
It may look easy, but for some of them it is a near death experience before they show their beauty, albeit transiently for a couple of days.
