Pie's Hill Flower Farm, Collierville, TN

10/15/2026

Fell asleep in the center of a Gabriel Oak bloom 🐝

10/13/2026

10/12/2026

I might lose all of my roses. 100s of them. So far at least 70 died of Rose Rosette Disease, a contagious virus with no cure that is rampant in the Memphis areas and lots of other parts of the country.

And I found the culprit. My neighbor has a rose that is covered in symptomatic canes and flowers, and I just noticed it because their rose is tall enough that it stands higher than my fence, I just couldn't see it till a few days ago when I was working behind my shed. So if you are in the same boat as me, here's how I handled it in case you want to try something similar. I love my neighbors, so my relationship with them will always be more important than having successful rose plants. So I told them about the disease, and that I saw their rose has it. The virus will eventually kill their rose, so I offered to dispose of it for them, take them to a local nursery of their choice and get them a plant (just not a rose - a new rose in that spot will get RRD - and plant whatever they want for them. So basically I'll do all the work and buy them a new plant. Just ask nicely, and remember that people are more important than plants, so don't ruin a relationship over your roses dying.

I really hope scientists figure out a treatment soon, but till then I'm going to keep giving away a bunch of my healthy roses and keep digging up and throwing away the diseased ones. If you grow roses, please check on them and discard them if they have RRD. The mites that spread the virus are microscopic and float on the breeze for a LONG distance, infecting more and more of our beautiful roses.

Pic is of Polka, one of my favorites. I really hope I don't lose this one.

10/04/2026

Echinaceas and Bolero