Hello, and welcome! Today’s post is about roses. I certainly have quite a few pictures of roses to show you, but I also want to share how I came to have roses in our garden. I love working with my hands. That covers a lot of areas (!) including gardening, flower arranging, and crafting to name but a few of my hobbies. So when we moved into our home all of those years ago, and the garden was like a blank slate, I was in my glory! Top of the list was to add plants which I could use for flower arranging.

Having cut flowers from the garden is something I’ve always wanted. This goes back to the days in the late 1990s when my sister and I would read Martha Stewart’s Living magazine from cover to cover. Of course the magazine would feature Martha’s home(s) which would always be filled with beautiful cut flowers from her garden(s). My sister’s garden was well ahead of mine in those days. Whenever I’d visit her, my bedroom and guest bathroom would be adorned with flowers. It was always such a lovely touch!

Today, many years later, I still love having cut flowers in our home. It has taken time to build up enough plants that I don’t mind cutting some to bring inside – since there will still be enough to enjoy outside. I hesitate to say I have a favorite flower, because I love all of them. Roses, though, they would have to be at the top of the list. I have two requirements when I buy them for my garden now: they have to be scented and they have to be disease resistant. For this reason, my collection includes many David Austin roses.

I’m still learning. Every year I work on my pruning skills (still not there yet!). I also never used to feed my roses, although their beds are always covered in my compost a couple of times a year. So they haven’t been totally neglected! They should be fed twice a year – once in spring (late March / early April) before the leaves are fully open, and right about now – after the first flush of flowers. Deadheading is something I do on a regular basis, as it promotes new growth.

I’ve lost my focus! Back to why my garden is filled with roses. There are many reasons why I grow roses. They have a very long flowering season – from early June all the way through November in some years! Some colors are excellent for drying, too, often being added to my lavender wreaths. I love their scents which you can enjoy throughout the garden. They also keep their scent even after they dry (did you know that?). And they are a perfect cut flower. Whether your arrangement is all roses, or they are combined with other flowers, they are simply beautiful to bring indoors.

Here are some pictures of my roses from the past number of weeks. I think they benefited from our dry spring. Although most are disease resistant, black spot tends to hit when the rain comes (and at this stage, the rains are with us).

I hope you are well and keeping safe. Thanks for stopping by!

In Peace,
Dana

I hope you’ve enjoyed the flower show! Take care! 🙂