Out of control and I love it

This has been a CRAZY year for the roses! Roses are blooming in places where I didn’t even know roses existed. I have been so overwhelmed by the magic of the colors and fragrance that work is almost a meditation. When I come downstairs groggy from the comfort of my bed and open the doors to the front porch, 5 AM isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s like being in a Disney animated princess story – complete with the birds singing; fragrant flowers; and bunnies, deer, and voles. The later somewhat disrespectful of the property barriers.

It’s already time to start deadheading and I didn’t even complete pruning. And the weeds! They love the weather as much as the roses and are taking advantage of my work delays. Still, it is gorgeous. Thank goodness for the hardy heritage roses and natural look of the English cottage style gardens.

While the cottage style garden is forgiving and not fussy, it still requires work. These past couple of weeks I have been working on what we call Pergola #2 when I have the chance. Earlier in the spring our friend Jeff came over and helped take out the deadwood from the base of the ramblers. Years of free range rose growth covered each pergola and then we had two really cold winters, with lots of die back. The removal of the deadwood triggered the growth of several new canes, some eager to scramble to the top of each pergola and the dead branches that hadn’t come up on the priority removal list yet and some moving like a lava flow across the yard.

Cutting out the dead branches around the live canes of roses is a slow process and the immediate after aesthetic is underwhelming after seeing the build up of puffy, colorful (at least on top), wildness. However, what is left is much healthier and within just a few months the new canes will complete their run up and over the tops of the pergolas and fill out. It’s like a haircut after one hasn’t had one in a while. At first it seems a bit severe, but in a couple of weeks it softens up.

Pleine de Grace began her bloom about a week and a half ago, a full month before last year. I also noticed that Kiftgate is in bloom.

The new cane we were so excited about last year and then devastated because something cut it down, is rooting. We forgot about it after putting it on the porch and the other day Rick was elated to find it doing well. Another point for nature. Sweet!

There have been two Heritage Rose Northwest events at Soos Creek Botanical Gardens since my last post, both absolutely delightful. For those of you who have asked about collecting and conserving heritage roses, I still say join your local heritage rose group, if there is one, and also join the Heritage Rose Foundation. If there isn’t a local group – and there aren’t many – working through the Heritage Rose Foundation might lead to meeting others with the same interests and perhaps starting your own local group. It is at these gatherings where you meet the most knowledgeable, gracious, passionate, people. People who have years of actual experience. Many who you will never find online. They know the histories…the stories…with citations! If you want to go beyond the color of the rose bloom and into the thorns, canes, hips, sepals, growth characteristics, genetics, migration patterns, etc., these are your people. And, oh, what they have growing in their gardens.

The June 3rd event heritage rose educational event “show” was well attended. I enjoyed seeing all of the categories of Old Garden Roses (OGR), roses I have in my garden as well as some that I had heard about but have never seen. Since it is the local heritage group (Heritage Roses Northwest), everything shown does well in this area. (A bonus for people who are new to collecting and conserving heritage roses.) It was my first time showing, since the weather had been useful in providing me with blooming roses this year.

As we were cleaning up a new friend, Carol, asked if Anne had the Gallica, Ohl. Upon hearing that she didn’t, she gave me her cut flowers and said, “now you do.” Ohl is a mauve, once blooming Gallica/hybrid China bred by Jean-Pierre Vibert in France in 1830. It smells amazing. The Ohl cuttings are now potted up and sitting on the north side of the house. If rooting occurs they will go into the Old Garden Roses garden in a couple of years.

Wednesday’s (June 21, 2023) Soos Creek event was the dedication and opening of their new garden, The Rosarian Walk. Our friend Rose Lee, of Rosebrier Gardens and Design in Seattle, shared her personal journey in roses and afterwards the Soos Garden Docents took us out for a walk through the area. For those of you on Instagram, you can see my walk thru at: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtxG4_ZMa9-/ (I hope that works. I’m much better with Facebook than blogging or Instagram.)

Margaret Nelson, the one who keeps us (Heritage Roses Northwest members) organized, generously offered cuttings from her garden to all of us. I was excited about this when I received the member e-mail, but the hours prior to leaving for Soos Creek were chaotic and I left without my tools. Not to fear! Margaret to the rescue. She, of course, had everything and was quick to overcome my lack of preparation to gift me with a bucket full of old roses. Creekside Manor Tea, Lyda Rose, Marie Louise, Napoleon…just to name a few.

ID party on July 1st

We still have a few more openings for the ID party on July 1st should you want to join us. Using lists, maps, old tags, and notes we will attempt to ID and/or verify the roses in Anne’s Gardens. Bring a picnic lunch. I’ll provide coffee and lemonade and a dessert. Also, as for most of our events, bring your clippers, gloves, and other materials to get cuttings for your gardens. (We will have a cleaning/sanitizing station that we request you use prior to getting your cuttings.) For more information, check the calendar on this website. (RSVP please.)

Food and Family

None of my blog posts are complete without sharing what Rick is up to. He enjoys sharing his veg garden with our AirBnB guests. They get all sorts of treats when they opt for the tour.

He was particularly happy when the loquats ripened. Hand pollinating took a lot of time but certainly paid off. He invited me to the greenhouse and ceremoniously picked the first loquat, cut it in half, and shared half of it with me. So flavorful. Perfect date!

Our youngest rosarian and granddaughter, Avery, came up to help me in the garden. Like her father, she is a hard worker. I love watching her in the garden as she makes observations. She smells each one and will tell you her assessment. She seems to be drawn to the multiple petaled crimson blooms. She is great at deadheading, something I don’t enjoy, so she does that and I can take care of other things.

The best part is just being together and enjoying the garden.