Technically, this small rose bush was the first thing I planted in my yard. My wife bought two small rose bushes in the summer of 2010. I planted both of them in an open area in front of the house shortly thereafter.
One died over the winter of 2010/11. But the other survived that winter and the next and has made it into 2012. It actually looks pretty good.
Rose bush macro.
I had lived in this house for almost 3 years. My adventures in planting stuff in the yard had been very limited to this point.