Beautiful reminders...

While enjoying the splendor and vivid colors of fall..I stumble across a beautiful reminder of a spring yet to come..
Abraham Darby--David Austin English Rose

"How I would love to be transported into a scented Elizabethan garden with herbs and honeysuckle, a knot garden..and roses..clambering over a simple arbor."
Rosemary Verey

A New Rose!

I bought a new rose bush at the Master Gardener's Rose Sale. It's a Julia Child--and I am in love with it! According to the rose information: "This lovely floribunda, produces clusters of blooms in abundance, from early Spring, right through the season, into fall. The famous Chef, Julia Child, chose this rose to bear her name. She loved the color, as well as the wonderful sweet/Licorice/Candy fragrance." It is suppose to be very easy to grow, heat tolerant and disease resistant. What more could you ask for? I saw these roses at the Arboretum a few weeks ago, and if mine even comes close to those it will be gorgeous. Wish you could smell this bloom--I think Julia would be very pleased!

New Roses

One cold sunny day in the middle of February the UPS driver knocked on my door with a wonderful surprise. My roses had arrived! I was so excited. They came in this big box and I thought were packaged well. I could not wait to open it and see what they looked like. I was expecting 2 wrapped up stems..or something like that.
But to my surprise I opened the box and found 2 nice size little rose bushes with leaves on them! I was so impressed with the caution the Rose Emporium took when they packed these. I think those people must really have a passion for what they do to take such care with traveling roses.
The instructions said to unpack them as soon as you get them, and to plant them as soon as you can. However it also said if you can't plant right away, make sure you keep them watered and give them sun. Since it was still getting into the 20's at night, I decided I better keep them in the containers for a few more weeks. I added a little more soil to the containers and for the last few weeks they have been watered, moved to the sunny patio during the day, and tucked into the garage at night.
I talked to them (I know you talk to your plants too, right?) and explained why they were being moved around so much and assured them they would be placed in their new home as soon as it warmed up a bit. They both seemed to understand the situation and were very happy for those sunny days on the patio.
Spring has not arrived of course, but the nights have warmed up and I felt like the roses needed to get in the ground, so yesterday was the day for them to arrive to their new home. If the temps take a nose dive, I will be sure and cover them. This rose is Nacogdoches, my "Yellow Rose of Texas."


And this small leafed rose is Odee Pink. Remember, it's the rose they say your grand-
mother may have picked to pin on her dress for the sweet fragrance. I don't know what kind of roses my Grandmother had, but I know she loved them and had quite a few that smelled wonderful; so this little bush is dedicated to that memory.
I hope my new roses love their new home, and produce many colorful and fragrant blooms. Antique roses are suppose to be easy to care for. The instructions that came with them gave me good information and I will try and follow all the guidelines. I did not have a lot of luck in the past with roses, but I feel myself falling in love with these. I'll wait and see how they do, but I already have a couple of others in mind to order next year. Today we have mild temps and drizzly rain. Perfect weather for the roses in their new home.



"There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of it's existence."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

What to do on a cool, windy Monday

What do you do on a cool, windy Monday in late January? Why, you order roses!
That is exactly what I did today! I haven't had roses in ages, but have been bitten by the rose bug. Not just any rose though..I decided I really wanted to try antique roses. Something like my Grandmother may have had. I have always wanted to go to Brenham (Texas) to The Antique Rose Emporium, but that is several hours from Dallas. And, some day I will go for a visit; however for today I looked at their website and saw that I could order online. The roses are kind of expensive ($18.95) so I only ordered 2. I had no idea which kind I wanted, but the website helps you decide by giving you options to choose from: shrub, climbing, fragrance, color, etc. I knew I wanted a repeat bloomer that was fragrant. That narrowed my search a little. Then I just browsed through the available section, picked ones of interest to read about, and made my decision.
I chose this yellow
"Nacog-
doches" first. As you all know, I LOVE yellow. This is the description the Rose Emporium gives about this rose:

"Nacog-
doches” or
“Grandma’s Yellow” as it is known in some circles, is a real eye catcher! The bright yellow roses appear throughout the growing season on an upright shrub and are excellent for cutting. We feel this rose is a modern Floribunda, but unlike its modern rose cousins, it has proven to be disease resistant.

I knew I wanted a pink rose, but had no clue what to select. Reading about this rose named
"Odee Pink", made it an easy decision:

"Easy to grow and always in bloom, this unknown old Tea is what one might term "gardener friendly". The double, loosely-formed pale pink flowers seem the sort that Grandmother might have pinned to her shawl so she could enjoy the perfume as she went about her daily chores."

How sweet is that?

I have been excited all afternoon about ordering these plants. They should arrive the second week of February. Guess I need to get the bed ready pretty soon. I have some great dirt just waiting for a new home!
Sure was a great January Monday!