Coming Up Roses
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June is the perfect month. The temperatures this year have been steady in the 70s with sunshine and a light breeze. We have had several inches of rain this week, but the gardens only look better for the drink. I find myself enchanted with the Rose Garden every June. I don’t want to leave. We carefully pruned each of our 50+ roses in March and now they reward us with the sweetest fragrances and most enchanting flowers.
I keep reading articles about how wonderful it is for the heart and soul to spend time outdoors each week. Spending time in the Rose Garden is like a long drink of water for the mind. It is both energizing and calming. I encourage you to inhale the sweet fragrance of the blooms when you visit. So many of the new rose cultivars available at the big box stores have been bred for a longer bloom time, while unfortunately breeding out the classic rose scent. Don’t succumb to this lesser form. Hold out for the sweet delight of a fragrant rose like ‘Windrush’ or ‘Munstead Wood’. Keep in mind that every flower has its time and don’t ask a rose to bloom all summer long when it was never meant to do so. Appreciate each flower in season.
Here is a sample of our roses currently in bloom in the Rose Garden.
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There are two other fragrant flowers in the Rose Garden I would be remiss if I failed to mention: petunias and sweet peas. Petunias have long been a favorite of mine. I fell in love with their velvety petals and intoxicating fragrance back when I worked at a perennial and annual nursery. There were greenhouses filled with petunias in hanging baskets. The sweetest smell permeated the air. I am so happy we have Petunia ‘Supertunia Royal Velvet’ in containers near the Moon Gate.
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The other sweet fragrance is from none other than Sweet Peas. ‘Nimbus’ is blooming with ‘Beaujolais’ and ‘Windsor’ on two trellises along the path.
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Stopand smell the roses and the petunias and the sweet peas. Your heart and mind will thank you.