Bloomin' Roses and Farmers Market

Pat Austin on the deck delivered twin beauties this morning. They are way different in color than the first two. Now I know why the rose is described as "copper-colored" because these are bright orange. They are gorgeous!!! The scent is different than the first two roses also.

I was never one to appreciate orange flowers and the Pat Austin is the token orange flower on our entire property. But if I had known how healthy this rose was and how quickly it gets established, I would have bought a lot more of them. They are such an unusual and attractive color that I'm planning on getting at least 3 next year to put in up by the mailbox. We'll just have to move the phone cable again in order to plant them. But I want to share the splendor and I still think behind the mailbox is the perfect location.

The Pat Austin is the only one amongst my 15 bushes that seems to resist aphids and disease. The leaves and flowers are completely blemish free.









The Fair Bianca on the deck has numerous buds about to bloom. I'm curious about the color because they're supposed to be white. There is a lot of pink in those buds.

Hello way down there,
you little blushing Noisette!

This is the view of the Blush Noisette eight feet below as you lean waaaay over the deck railing. Not exactly what I planned. I planted it there so it would climb up and join us on the deck. Good thing I didn't stress over installing a trellis. That not-so-entusiastic climbing rose shows no signs of wanting to climb in any direction, let alone the deck. As an apology for its "shortcoming," at least it's offering me over 100 buds so far. I can't wait to see the blooms, even if I do have to look over the railing with binoculars.



We went to the Farmer's Market for the first time over the weekend. What a fabulous place! I've been wanting to go for years and years and don't know why it took me so long to get there. I didn't even know they had a website. duh.

We only had time to explore a fraction of the booths but saw tons of plants and fresh produce temptingly displayed. I bought two quarts of the reddest strawberries I've ever seen. Yum! We got two Bush Tomatoes for the deck, hereby named the "Deck Tomatoes" or "the Tomatoes that Got Away from the Deer."









We also bought a bunch of other plants on impulse. I know you should never do that. I can say no to car salesmen, hotdog vendors, and door-to-door broom hawkers. But I'm a newbie at gardening so if someone says "You really should have this for your garden," my eyes instantly glaze over and I reach for my wallet. This means I now have to figure out where to plant 18 miscellanious flowers, 6 cucumbers and 12 green peppers.

The only sun on the deck has already been reserved for the roses. Which means we'll probably have to plant the veggies in the yard somewhere. Most likely they'll end up as sacrifices to the deer. sigh.