Gardening Roses

Yeah I'm still here. My gardening activities don't go much further than the deck right off the dining room though. I probably spend at least 30 minutes a day out there doing gardening stuff. Mostly plucking off spent blooms from the geraniums, snipping off dead leaves, watering, and giving all the deck plants doses of Miracle Grow.

The drought this summer was really rough on some of the new roses. I wasn't able to water the ones in the yard much, which made it doubly worse. I'm amazed that we only lost three of the new roses. They only got watered about once a month too! I'm thrilled that the Molineux on the deck is still graced with occasional blooms, as is the Fair Bianca. It's October and I'm still getting roses right outside my dining room! Way cool.

Because of the scorching 100+ degree heat this summer, even watering the roses on the deck didn't spare them from damage. I lost some leaves and buds burned up crispy before even blooming. Now that the heat is past, the roses are rallying and I've got a dozen buds and blooms in various stages on the deck roses.

Scepter'd Isle, planted up by the mailbox, turned out to be the star this year. I wasn't able to prune it or water it, but over the summer and into the fall, it got a couple dozen blooms. DOZEN, mind you! Probably due to it being Year 2 and also the deer disappeared. No I did NOT have anything to do with the deer disappearing. But I did pray repeatedly for their demise and I, ahem, cursed them into oblivion. You know, "Curse you, you dastardly deer! You SHALL NOT PASS!" kinda stuff.

Jude the Obscure, down in the patio area, surprised me by growing. Poor Jude had such a rough start. As a tender bare root, it was neglected and abused in the garage during pre-planting for months, suffered torturous shredding by the deer after planting and then incinerated by the sun without even a drop of hydration. Despite all that, Jude is giving me Magnificent, Heavenly Blooms this month! Wow.

There aren't many blooms, but the growth is vigorous and very promising for next year. It's the scent of Jude the Obscure that has elevated it above all the other roses so far. The scent of the half dozen blooms here and there sends me into rapturous swooning. Such ecstasy! Honestly, my eyes actually rolled back as I closed them and buried my nose in a Jude the Obscure bloom. Inhale slow and deep... exhale... inhale slowly, concentrate on the scent. Where does the scent take you? Can it be described? Can it be memorized like a painting or caress or flavor?

Jude the Obscure is officially my favorite rose scent. It's a lot stronger this year than it was last year. I would Totally wear a perfume that managed to capture Jude! It's a rather exotic, complex scent, with a tropical fruit, perhaps Mango, laced with a subtle sandalwood, white wine and a rare flower. Orchid perhaps? Oh Jude, such scent sublime!

Now that our lives are finally settling in a workable schedule with my father-in-law still living with us, I'm going to be getting back to more gardening. And posting to this blog. I've MISSED it! I was down walking around the overgrown future patio area today and envisioned having friends over for a "Come Smell My Roses" party next summer. Woot! Something so exquisite just HAS to be shared.