I never gave the slightest thought, when I selected my vacation last fall, that this time of the year was Spring Break and Easter. That fact led to some re-scheduling and delays because folks were out of town, but I managed to get everything done that I wanted to accomplish. The weather was extremely hot when I was there – it got up to 90 degrees one day! – but one advantage was that this early in the year the only plant that was really green was the multiflora rose. It stood out like an albino deer in the summer time and thus was very easy to spot and cut.

Everything else close by was either winter brown or just starting to flush out with golden yellow new growth. I was pleased to see that the rose plant doesn’t grow as fast as I thought – bushes that I cut last summer were no taller than 10″ or so. I am hoping that the deer will browse these bushes and keep them under control until I can kill them with herbicide or remove them mechanically. I’d estimate that I have cut 98% of the rose on the property – it will be very interesting to see what the place looks like in early July, when I plan to visit again.