Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Roses, roses, roses... the garden is blooming like mad ...

Aphids up close


Old fashioned scented rose, great for pot pourri when dried

Iceberg buds, nice to have inside as a cut flower


Different angle to an aphid and rose
Forgotten this ones name, it's scented and  has a delicate pink colouring.
Full on iceberg rose

Dublin Bay, we received this one for a wedding present ten years ago, it's a great climber and repeat bloomer


Ten reasons to grow roses

One: They are  velvety to touch and sensuous to smell.

Two: They can outlive you, I have had some of mine for twenty years.

Three: They are relatively inexpensive to buy.

Four:
Their bloomig period lasts a long time, especially of you dead head them frequently ( ie when a bloom starts to dry up cut it off and new buds will appear).

Five: If you shift away they are quite easy to transplant. 

Six
If you don't mind aphids they are reasonably easy to look after. 
 I just spray dishwashing liquid and water on them. I also have a pretty tolerant attitude towards all insects. Are a few aphids and earwigs going to stop the world spinning?

Seven
They make lovely cut flowers to freshen up the house and you can give them as presents to people ( hopefully minus the aphids and earwigs).

Eight
They give pleasure to people walking by who look into into your garden.

Nine
Bees and butterflies love them, burglars hate them.

Ten
When life becomes stressful with  builders who don't turn up to fix your studio because a giant poplar has crashed through the roof... a few hours out in the garden smelling roses can stop you from going completely  mad.

I have around fifteen different types, my only wish is that I could have a garden twice the size to fit more in.

 Additional creative quotation for the day:

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people,things, literature, music-the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.
Henry Miller

If you haven't already, check out my website http://www.jkeen.net/



1 comment:

Lee Murray said...

Hi Janet,

Gorgeous piccies of roses, Janet. I can almost smell them. Yes, they definitely make up for the fickleness of building contractors. Pooey to them.
Follow up to my recent whinge about my daughter's struggle to study for her NCEA Level 1 English exam. She skipped home and told me the exam couldn't have been better. It was as if it were written for her. And you won't believe this, but the unfamiliar poem that she had to analyse, the thing that was causing the most angst, turned out not to be unfamiliar at all. It was a poem entitled 'Fletcher' by Tauranga Writers Bard of Brookfield, Marcel Currin. My daughter had already read the poem and loved it, AND had heard Marcel perform it at a National Poetry Day event in Tauranga a few months ago. Marcel is positively her favourite poet - move over Shakespeare, AND she rates him more highly than Flight of the Conchords. She was delighted that he appeared in what she thought would be the worst bit of the paper. Marcel, on the other hand, had no idea his poem featured in the exam and nor did he receive any royalties, I believe. However, I think it must be a real buzz to know that he was probably the most 'read' poet in the country yesterday. That must count for something. My daughter is tackling Level 2 Maths as I write. No doubt she will be calling heavily on her creativity there!
Off to meet with my Ladies Literary Group this morning: five ladies cracking the whip and making each other stay focused on our writing. We combine this activity with coffee and cake and make it an occasion.
Writing is an activity one does in isolation, so it's excellent to get some feedback and encouragement from time to time. So must dash. Have a terrific day.
Lee