Roses.  Roses.  Roses.  Everything is so rosy here at Blithewold!  This is my fifth season working with Gail in the gardens, and I find myself blown away by the roses once again.  Last week I took our interns Gidiony and Sean to check on weeding and watering in the garden and the roses were just beginning to open.  Today the color is surreal!

The smell is pretty wonderful, as well.

Here are a few of the other delightful flowers blooming in the Rose Garden right now.

Another visitor favorite this year has been the petunias in the containers by the Moongate.  For those of you wondering, they are Supertunia Vista Silverberry.  We deadhead them a few times a week and they have rewarded our efforts effusively.

Petunia x hybrida ‘Supertunia Vista Silverberry’

Petunias have long been a personal favorite of mine, but they do require some major attention to detail.  We are thankful for our volunteers who come in each week to help us lovingly maintain the gardens.  They carefully clip off each spent bloom so all of the plants look perfect (and the added bonus is that the plant can continue to put energy into making flowers rather than making seeds).  Here’s one of our volunteers Sue McCumber enjoying her work in the Rose Garden this week.

There are many more wonderful sights around Blithewold right now.  It’s so festive!  I hope you have the opportunity to visit and experience for yourself.  Next time you visit be sure to stop and smell our roses!