Roses Roses Roses

Roses past...
I had a spectacular showing of Roses in May and June.

This Rose is Zephrine Drouin... a beauty in May and so heady with scent you can't imagine! No sweeter place to be on earth than the garden when it is bloomin'

My rose has a life and it wants to live it ~ let me tell you this rose story.

When my husband built the flower box we originally planted a trumpet vine ~ which never bloomed by the way ~ out it came (gone but not forgotten - it still springs up every year somewhere in the vicinity as it doesn't want to die either-go figure). We decided on climbing roses which we thought would look good and picked up two Zephrine Drouin ~ a thornless, strong scented shade tolerating variety. Beauty in about two years I couldn't believe ~ lasted a couple of years then the rose seemed to have spent itself ~ we dug them out and I let the flower box go the next year so we could paint the box and trellis. So for a summer we just planted some annual flowers for color & life. As I was thinking about what I would plant to replace the rose with and still not sure, the rose made that decision for me... the following Spring three came in where once there were two and over the years ~ this is my gift from mother nature.

My June blooming rose is a wild rambler I picked up about 3 years ago in Kentucky at the edge of my grandmother's family cemetery while we were there decorating. They say she was a lover of flowers and I like to think this may have been from one of hers, but if not it is at least from her property. I used the old fashioned way of getting a start ~ I snipped off about a 6 inch piece at the hip, put it in a cup with water for the trip home and that evening I made a mud ball, put it on the stem and placed it in the ground, watered it and put a glass fish bowl over it from early June until late August. Watered regularly ~ it was well rooted. The next year it just grew, last year it bloomed and grew some more. This wild rose only blooms once a year, but as you can see it is lovely to behold.

I'm enjoying other flowers now, but nothing is better than the first rose of summer...

I have designed and crocheted this "Romantique Summer Wrap"


~ anticipation for the first rose of summer was my inspiration ~

Wishing you a wonderful and enjoyable summertime.
Brenda