Thursday morning found me up on Nose Hill again, where I discovered a large pocket of white wild roses. Our two wild rose species, Rosa acicularis and Rosa woodsii, usually flower in various shades of pink, and I was delighted to come across white ones that were not simply pink blooms washed out by age or sunlight or drought. Very pretty!
Other than a miniature rose with gorgeous pink blooms that my former landlady “lent” me about a decade ago, I don’t grow any roses at our apartment complex. Fortunately, the mini hangs on from year to year with my minimal care – although it was touch and go this spring. For awhile there, I actually feared it had finally been done in by the weather, but it surprised me with its perseverance. Good thing, too, because my former landlady still lives in my building and she regularly checks on the plant (which was a gift from her granddaughter). It’s just starting to put on flower buds now, much later than usual…but I’m just so relieved it’s still alive. Here’s a photo from 2006, when it was fairly new to the garden. (I’m surprised to find that I don’t have any recent pics of it – I will rectify that once it blooms. Of course, it’s not a whole lot larger now than it was back then!).
Okay, it’s your turn to brag about your roses…let’s hear about the ones that are performing best in your garden this year, the ones that you love most, the ones you’re dreaming about! Please feel free to put up a link to your blog in the comments if you want others to check out any posts you’ve made about your roses – I know I’d certainly be delighted to see them!
Flowery Prose. 