Roses & gardening, as promised :)

I have to start by saying I'm one of the most fortunate women on the face of the earth, in part, because of my friends! Turns out I have $277.50 I wasn't counting, because a dear friend has no intention of cashing the check I sent her. She lent me $140 so I'd be able to give change to people at that fair, got it in ones, fives, & tens for me. I sent her a check to pay her back & my share of the table fee, & she won't cash the check because she has income & I don't! She says when I get on my feet financially, we'll talk about whether she lets me pay back the $140. I'm humbled & grateful, awed by the giving nature of my friends. I'm used to being the biggest giver around, not used to being surrounded by big givers. I've had to relearn that sometimes you have to graciously receive - for every giver, there has to be a receiver. I can then give to others in non-monetary ways for now, until I'm back on my feet. Pay it forward :)

Before I get into roses I have to tell you of my love of lilacs. When I was in elementary school, there was a huge lilac bush in the corner of our playground. Every time it bloomed, I'd play IN it every recess, pretend it was my house. I'd spend all recess inhaling that heavenly scent. Some day I'm going to have enough bushes or bush to do that again, just sit in it. By the way, can you imagine how great a draw that smell was? I'm allergic to bee stings!

I was born in the City of Roses, Portland, Oregon. Both my grandmothers (in Portland, & in Dayton, Ohio) raised beautiful roses back when that was a real challenge. In Dayton, my grandmother had a trellis with roses growing up one end of her brick & cement front porch, so that's something I admire whenever I see it, & long for. She also had a wooden arch, the side of which was up against the side door to the separate garage, with roses climbing it. So I have a wooden arch, only mine has a wooden swing hanging from it.

Portland has magnificent rose gardens, test gardens for new varieties of roses. They work on getting the scent back into the most beautiful roses possible, on disease resistance, etc. Some day I'm going to get to go there. It should probably be at the end of my life though, since I doubt I'll ever want to leave once I enter :)

My favorite roses are the ones with the old rose smell, the damask rose scent. Some of my favorites for scent are Mister Lincoln (red) & Scentimental (red & white striped). For sheer beauty, The Fairy is one of my true favorites, although it has little fragrance. For beauty & scent, Royal Bonica is my all-time favorite thus far. It's a classic long stem beauty, a gorgeous, unusual pink, & a few in a vase scent an entire room! I also love many of the David Austin (English) roses for their scent & beauty. I'm also, of course, very partial to Portland (damask) roses (yes, a category). Sheila's Perfume is another favorite - yellow & pink petals, beautiful scent - same with Chicago Peace, & Peace (all pink). I even had a funky little bush called Lil Gigi. The blossoms weren't well formed (to my tastes) & didn't last long enough cut, but the bush produced blooms in a whole variety of fun colors. I'd add it to bouquets of miniatures for the fun value, & I'd grow it again if I found one for sale.

I grew every type of rose except trees & carpet roses, & so many varieties within each category. A few I never knew the name of, because of how I obtained them. A few I'd never grow again. It was a true learning experience - what I liked best once the bushes matured & produced. The same is true of annuals & perennials. Fortunately, I kept a gardening log. I noted the locations of the things I was planting, & at the end of the season noted how they did through the summer & fall. Since I often mixed annuals & perennials, it was very helpful when my pots & gardens would start to green in the spring. I knew what to look for in foliage, didn't mistake new flower growth for weeds. I also learned what I must have each year to be happy, when money or space was limited. I have an adorable spiral notebook with - go figure - an elegant cat on the front. It contains all my garden notes through the years so I can reference it at any time. I also kept a manila clasp envelope with tags from the bushes & things I'd planted, when I needed further reference. I recommend this practice to all of you if you're going to really get into gardening. It's well worth the effort. And I always wrote in pencil, so that if something didn't do well & I replaced it during a season, I could make a note of that & fill in the replacement's information. I guess you could do all this on your computer, but digging in the earth is so elemental that I like my notes to be equally elemental :)

I'm by no means an expert, but if any of you have questions about growing roses or gardening, I'm pretty experienced & would be glad to share what I've learned :) You can send me an email from this site.