the garden

Falling in Love...over, and over again

i keep telling myself that there are enough wonderful plants in the garden
that i really don't need to add anymore.

i was already in love with nigella--the flower
although the famous Nigella person is pretty swell, too.
(Don't you just love gorgeous people who don't seem to know
just how gorgeous they are on the outside?)

Two weeks ago, i met and fell in love with this rose
and decided on the spot i need her
(do click on the image, to view it larger...and you'll see the nigella, too)



This is Mme. Gregoire Staechelin.
She is growing in the nursery bed at Greenwood Gardens.
Louis, the Director of Horticulture, has been collecting plants to use throughout the garden once the current renovation project is complete. That bamboo "trellis" is temporary
or at least we all hope so
the original target date for completion has been extended at least 3 times.
Hopefully, she will be moved to her permanent home next spring.
Anyway...

According to Internet sources, this beautiful pink climber was introduced by the Spanish hybridizer, Pedro Dot and is also known by the name, "Spanish Beauty"
And now that i've met her, i can't for the life of me understand why she is not more widely available.



Searching the Internet, i find only one source here in the U.S.:
Rogue Valley Roses--who claims it is "deservedly popular".
Hmpf.
Maybe in the rose crazy land of western Oregon, but it is certainly not popular enough to find its way into most mail order sources--not even the revered Antique Rose Emporium.

Country Garden Roses in the UK praises it very highly:
A fine climbing rose with huge blooms of soft rosy carmine with crimson shadings.
Summer flowering but a breathtaking sight in full bloom.
If spent blooms are not removed, very large pear shaped fruits are produced that change slowly from green to yellow gold.
Dark green foliage with good disease resistance.
Can cope with a North wall.
Scented.
[Her perfume is very similar to sweet peas, if you ask me]
Has won numerous awards including.
Bagatelle Gold Medal 1927
American Rose Society John Cook Medal 1929
Royal Horticultural Society Award Of Garden Merit. 1993.

So, hey RHS...why wait until 1993 to honor Pedro's fabulous rose??
She is so worthy of love, admiration, and a prominent spot in the garden.

June 27th: 3 things

Lucy's latest post
reminded me of an excellent exercise introduced by Claire
and i'm feeling it may be just the ticket for navigating my way back.
As Plutarch puts it, "to record the beautiful, interesting or amusing things
which I encounter every day and would like to share."

i'm aiming for a minimum of once a week.
It may turn out to be all words, or all photos.
Whatever pleases, amuses, and/or adds to the sum total of good things.

So, here goes. Today, it's 3 things and a photo:

October 10th

Frost was forecast, so
Jo gathered the fresh roses that had just opened.
Precious little pale pink buds and flowers
with short, slender stems.
"What to do?" thought Jo
Where to put them? Not enough little vases
No wide, shallow bowl that fits.
Then she unearthed this deliciously heavy
glass vase.

She hates it when i photograph her hands.
i'm sorry, Jo
but it is diminished without you.

November 10th

she's an itty bitty thing
and possibly the last
but sweetest rose at Greenwood for this year

June 8th

the first rose opened a couple of days ago
and i find it deliciously curious that it has appeared
in almost the exact same spot
as the last rose last autumn

click to see larger and full frame

September 7th

as the skies grew darker with the approaching storm
i was walking past an upstairs window
that looks out over the arch leading to the garden
and a flash of bright-pink-white caught my eye:
a clutch of three, just-opened roses sat perched
on the very topmost branch.
i would not have seen them if i had been
standing in the garden, they were reaching so high
and far above the arch.

i was tempted to take a step ladder outside
and cut them before the storm
but i decided that i didn't want to bring them indoors
because they would have become
simply
three of the last roses
in a bud vase
in the house.

i chose to leave them be
there where they could be seen only
from a bird's eye view
and trust that they could
in their freshness
weather the storm.

gratefully, Ernesto petered out by the time he arrived
and the three have enjoyed a lovely reign.

the photograph from a previous year

June 15th

click on photo to enlarge

i don't know what happens to film sometimes.
i think it must be the processing
that perhaps with all the focus on digital
the labs aren't as careful as they used to be.
i don't know.
i tried sooo long to color correct the
original image into a traditional photograph
because i really liked this little house
but i finally gave up and dove into
PS filters, yet again
i think it works
in a "Neverland" kinda way.
but hey
if wishes were fishes
i'd swim right away!

May 28th

Happy Birthday, Dear Cheri, Dear Julie

June 12th

i like wandering around my home town
just to see what i can find.
this was down an alley
just a few feet off the main street.
i love many many things about my
home town
mostly the fact that there are
surprises like this
just when i need them most.

June 11th

yesterday a dear friend and fellow photographer-writer
said "you need to get out of the house...and we both
need to see each other." i couldn't argue. my cold
combined with the horrible heat and humidity
(you do not want to be here right now) had kept me
close to home if not inside for most of the week. and
i needed desperately to simply move.
"okay" i said. "i'll walk down to the library if you'll
pick me up when you come into town for your mail."
he did and then we went to his garden
where
of course
we walked and looked and dripped buckets of sweat.
i came home, showered and dropped onto my bed
where i lay for nearly the rest of the day.

who is this person inhabiting this body?

anyway
there are lots of beautiful roses all round town
and just outside our door.