Our son, Darren, and I were having a wonderful discussion about what to plant where at his home in Hidden Hills. He has always had the gardening bug: Think snap peas in a container on various apartment-cabin decks across the country. But now, with a home of his own, he is really giving trees and shrubs a lot of thought.

I have been nurturing a massive rugosa rose, Hansa, that I have every intention of digging the shoots from and giving to him. He wants a hedge all around his house and this is the perfect plant for that. They have wonderful deep green, textured foliage and dark pink blooms that smell of cinnamon. The hips (seed pods) are a dark orange and huge, adding winter interest and a little something for the birds.

Moose will give them a nibble but I have yet to see them completely devastate these roses. The blooms form on new wood so any winter damage will not deter the show of blossoms. There are some years when the aphids will seem to have taken over but a good hosing off will eliminate them. A wet summer will keep the aphids at bay so do not regret rain.

These roses are tough as nails. In the spring you cut out whatever may have died or broken over the winter. Cutting out old canes will give the plant a fresh look and encourage new growth from the base. If they have developed a rangy look, you can cut the canes back by one-third.

They are also salt tolerant which translates to: You, who live on the waterfront, can benefit from these plants. They will not be fazed by salt spray.

Think carefully about placement as these roses are very thorny; a high foot traffic area is not a good idea.

Darren also is thinking about trees. Without a fence or extensive caging, I have suggested that he transplant readily available native spruce. Given space and water they will grow 18 inches to two feet in a season. They offer privacy and look good all year round.

So he has the potential to acquire a whole lot of plants for zero monetary investment. Nice.

Then there is the daughter, Andrea, living on a bay in Washington. Once again the rugosa rose will come in handy here. I have every intention of bringing her clumps of the Hansa. But she may opt for the Scotch rose Heidi (r. pimpinellifolia). These, too, are a rugged rose. They have a small fern-like dark green leaf that turns a bright yet dark orange in the fall. The blooms are clustered, small, pale pink, fully double and have a very slight scent (a drawback, in my opinion). When they are in bloom, the show is unbeatable. They spread fast and form a dense mass. The bare branches in the winter have a red hue to them, very appealing. Each spring I give them a good grooming, cutting out any winter damage or broken canes. This is a rather thankless, nasty job but the whole lot looks so nice when I am done that I don’t care that I am the only one who notices.

Be sure to wear long pants and sleeves when going about this chore; the thorns are merciless. If you have long hair I suggest tying it up and covering it with a hat. I usually forget this step in the preparation process and will emerge from the thicket looking very witchy. Goodness.

I am not offering these roses to Darren; I am concerned that at his elevation Heidi will not thrive as readily as Hansa.

Elevation will limit what rose will be successful. This is another reason to find someone who will give you a young plant. Find out what your neighbors are growing. Do not just plant any rose. At the higher elevations you can really and truly count on Hansa giving a good show. As you develop your garden you can experiment, but if you are just starting out, resist the urge to buy something because the picture on the tag speaks to you. Think.

This brings me to recycling the garden books on my shelf. I reached the conclusion that I will never really have any design to my garden. But you would never know that by the number of books on design on my shelf. Or all of the other irrelevant books. Enough. I have packed them and sent them off to Andrea. She has a new property, a blank slate and she is a very different person than me. Methinks that an overall design plan will hit a chord with her. Off they go.

The thought of sharing plants with our children makes my heart sing.

If you have fallen prey to the seduction of gardening books and they are now collecting dust, donate them to the Homer Public Library and, hopefully, teenagers with too much time on their hands will not vandalize them. Maybe they will be inspired to garden. Now there’s a thought.