‘It’s raining, raining, raining. I hear the raindrops fall.’  The lawn is sodden, the Sunken Garden is a swamp and the vegetable garden is sulking as morning temperatures  are still in the 50s.

And yet, and yet, the rains have mostly been gentle and the roses have drunk their fill. Applejack, at the head of the drive is all grace, and the rugosas are blooming fragrantly. Rose buds are swelling on every bush. I think this will be the best show for The Annual Rose Viewing ever. The date is Sunday, June 28 from 1-4 pm at End of the Road Farm, off 8A North in Heath.

Since there isn’t very much going on in the garden except the roses – and peonies –  right now, and because I love sharing my hardy roses I am entering the Rose Photograph contest over at Gardening Gone Wild. I have a modest camera and even more modest skill, but in the interest of sharing, not winning, I’m putting up my three photos.  Above is Applejack, a hardy Griffith Buck hybrid that has exactly the graceful but blowsy form I love. A couple of skunks that we had to fish out of one of our dug wells is buried beneath it, but the fragrance has not been affected.

Rosa glauca (formerly rubrifolia) is a rose I have in the garden for its foliage not its tiny pink flowers as pretty as they are. This is the stunner when we have our Annual Rose Viewing. It is impressive in size, probably nine feet tall, and so graceful that everyone wants to know what it is.  And many people get to take a plant away. In the early spring when I find lots of little babies sprouting around it I pot them up and give them away.

 Mount Blanc is a fabulous rugosa. The flowers are large and double and very fragrant, on a big 6 foot tall bush that gets bigger every year.  All three of these roses, Applejack, R. glauca and Mount Blanc are incredibly hardy and trouble free. No bug damage (I have put down milky spore disease to control Japanese beetles) or disease.  Of course, the bloom period is short – but you can’t have garden fresh strawberries in December either.

The roses are starting to bloom and the mock orange is also in fragrant bloom. I planted it at the corner of the Cottage Ornee where that fragrance can be enjoyed in the shade and away from any bugs.  Cookies and lemonade will be served in the Cottage at the Rose Viewing.

For those who cannot attend the I am building a Virtual Rose Viewing Page.  Look for it in the column to the right and click.  The Page will continue to grow as I photograph more roses coming into bloom during the week. Surely we will have some sun.