The Annual Rose Viewing, the last Sunday in June, is our early summer Seasonal Celebration. Most of my collection of 60+ hardy, trouble free roses are only in bloom for three or four weeks. The period of peak bloom is very short and we want to share that glory with our friends and neighbors – and their friends. The Annual Rose Viewing is our Garden Open Today. This year the Annual Rose Viewing will be held on Sunday, June 30 from 1-4 pm. Lemonade and cookies too.
My garden is not a grand garden by any stretch. Happily it does not take grand design and rare plants to make a beautiful place to spend a country afternoon. Woodslawn Pink and the Purington Pink rose are old roses that came from Woodslawn Farm in Colrain. They speak to me of the history of this area, and my friendship with the Purington family. I have other old unnamed roses from farms in the area and I have named them after the donors: Alli, Rachel and Terri.
Many of my roses are rugosas. Some know the familiar beach rose but other are more glamorous. All are trouble free and fragrant.
Leda is difficult to photograph, but she is called a painted damask because of the red edging on the white blossom. When it bud it looks like a red rose. Those who are familiar with their Greek mythology, or Yeats’ poem, know that the beautiful Leda was ravished by Zeus in the shape of a white swan.
Passionate Nymph’s Thigh, a very hardy Alba rose was the first rose I planted. I could not resist the name.
Applejack, big and graceful, is the first rose that greets you when you drive to the end of Knott Road in Heath. Applejack is a Griffith Buck rose, bred to be hardy, and by the way, disease resistant.
Yellow is an unusual color for a rose, and yellow roses tend to be tender. But not Harrison’s yellow, another old rose.
I cannot show you every rose, but for a virtual Rose Viewing click here. I will be updating that page soon and adding even more roses. I hope I will meet some of my readers on June 30.
I thank Donna at Garden’s Eye View http://gardenseyeview.com/ for inspiring this seasonal celebration.
Just beautiful! We’re trying a Garden Open Day for the first time. I’d be interested in any tips you may have.
How gorgeous…I just saw this and will add it right away to the wrap up post.
I love roses and wish I could see yours. Passionate Nymph’s Thigh? I would have bought that one, too! It’s a beauty. :o)
I am at my wits end with mine. I have several tough disease resistant David Austin cultivars but have been plagued with blackspot. I’ve taken off all the diseased leaves I could reach and have been spraying with a copper fungicide and a water based solution of Castille soap and baking soda. Very frustrating… The plants receive plenty of air circulation in my humid climate and rich soil. How do you deal with blackspot?