All week we had been waiting for our daughter Kate and her family to arrive. We knew they had been at her husband's family reunion at a state park in NY, celebrating his parents 80th and 90th birthday - and their 60th wedding anniversary. I expected them to arrive mid-week, but there was no word. We called Kate's cell phone. We sent emails. We sent Facebook messages. No word. No word. No word. Had they been carjacked? We…
Rosa Mundi is an ancient striped gallica rose - rosa gallica versicolor. A good friend gave me this rose many years ago and has proved its hardiness by surviving this long. It has not increased in size, but it returns to bloom every June. It is listed as hardy to Zone 4, so why hasn't it thrived? If I am honest I must assess the planting site. Although it is said to be tolerant of some shade, I…
It takes more than plants to make a garden. First, it takes time. Deirdre Bonifaz and her husband Cristobal moved to Conway in 1985. For Deirdre it was a return to a part of the world she knew as a youngster. In the 1950s her father had moved the family from New York to a West Whately farm, to be closer to the soil and the essentials of life. ‘He was a man ahead of his time,” Deirdre…
The sky was gray and a few guests came early to the Rose Viewing, hoping to beat the rain, but blue skies arrived, as well as muggy temperatures, and more guests. It is always a pleasure to show people around the garden myself, but visitors can also go around with a rose list and map that my husband makes. Since I look on the Rose Viewing as a quasi-educational event I am always pleased to see people making…
We are making the final preparations for the Annual Rose Viewing tomorrow afternoon. I haven't finished dead heading, but here is a preview of some of the roses in bloom. These roses and more will be awaiting admirers at the Annual Rose Viewing at the End of Knott Road in Heath, Sunday, June 27, 1-4 pm. Take some time to smell the roses.
Last year, about this time, I asked our wonderful Heath librarian Don Purington if the offer of a pink rose from his family farm still stood. Lucky for me it did. He not only introduced me to his mother Barbara, but my visit to Woodslawn Farm, also led to my meeting his sister Carol and a new friendship. Carol is a poet, a reader, and a great conversationalist. She was struck by polio on her first day of…
Ryan left for home with his father last night - but not before a final flurry of activity. He helped me move the chicks out of the brooding box and into a larger space. The henhouse has two sections, one for the laying hens, and the equally large 'entry' which we arrange so the chicks only have 2/3 of the space. It is so dark in the this area, with the brooding box still in place, that I…
Dr. Griffith Buck (1915-1991) is my hero because when he was working at the Iowa State College after the Second World War he began hybidizing roses that were hardy and disease resistant. At that time (and still today) rose gardeners knew they had to spray and coddle their roses. Buck was a man ahead of his time; nowadays many poison sprays for roses are being banned for environmental reasons and other hybridizers are working on disease resistant rose…
We all know that many roses, as well as other plants like dwarf fruit trees, are often grafted onto sturdier rootstocks. It doesn't happen very often, but sometimes that sturdy rootstock decides to take on a life of its own again. The deep red roses here are from the rootstock grafted onto my alba rose, Passionate Nymph's Thigh. The passionate nymph's roses are a delicate flesh pink - as appropriate for a Maiden's Blush, as for a rowdier…
When I crossed the Bridge of Flowers the other day I was surprised by the number of roses - now in glorious bloom. I did not remember there were so many. There are pink roses . . . and red roses . . . and pale pink roses . . . and yellow roses. There are many shades of pink and red roses, and white roses and . . . peachy apricot roses, a particular favorite color of…