roses

I love roses.  Mostly I love the old roses or the new ones that look like old roses--cupped and quartered, scented, just a little out of control.   These are a few of my favorites; some will continue to bloom all summer, some just bloom in the spring, some react negatively to our humid summers and stay in tight balls that never open.  I don't really care, I love them any way.  When they peak in May I'm always reminded of the quote "I'd rather have one crowded hour of glorious life than an age without name." 

 

Abraham Darby:  A stunning David Austin rose combining the best of old rose form and modern coloring--a wonderful scent, too.

 

Eglantine:  Another David Austin rose.  I almost pulled this one up after two years of not doing much.  Luckily, I didn't get around to it (procrastination has its rewards).  The third year it was magnificent--huge blooms in such quantity that the branches were weighed down by the profusion.  Then it just kept blooming all summer.

Buff Beauty:  This rose along with several others is part of my great rose search.  In 1982 I lived in a house that was being painted when my second daughter was born (I chose the paint color before leaving for the hospital).  There was a beautiful, once-blooming, apricot climber that got in the painter's way while I was in the hospital.  My dear husband told him to just chop it down.  I've been trying to find that rose ever since.  Buff Beauty is not it, but I like it anyway.  The house was built in 1929, the only owners who maintained the yard moved away in the early 1950's.  So it was probably a rose introduced prior to that time.  Anyone out there have a suggestion?

Hermosa:  I've carted Hermosa around from house to house for 20 years now.  The blossoms are small but have that wonderful old rose shape, the scent is lovely and it's a reliable repeat bloomer (if it doesn't get too humid).  A wonderful little rose.

 

 

Lavender Lassie:   Although technically remontant, this rose really only blooms once, but once is enough.  It absolutely explodes into bloom in May.  This is a rose I couldn't imagine being without.  The name is a bit misleading.  While there is some blue in the pink, it's a long way from lavender.

Alchymist:  One of my oldest and dearest friends works at the downtown library in Oklahoma City.  When the bomb exploded at the Murrah Building, I tried frantically for hours to get hold of her, but all the lines were tied up.  Finally, I went out to my garden where the roses were just starting to bloom.  I was looking for a little hope.  That afternoon she called to tell me that although the windows in her office had been blown out, she was okay.   She, too, had retreated to her garden where her Alchymist rose was in bloom.  Hope comes in many forms.

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