Rosy & Fishy

Before coming to the lake cottage at the weekend, I cut lots and lots of roses to fill the place (leaving some behind to adorn the Lodge). Here are my arrangements, which have lasted quite a long time.

I had a lovely week at the Lodge, enjoyng roses and shuttling myself to various meetings. Now I'm having a lakeside week. The weekend was perfect...now a heat wave has descended. The mercury could reach 100 degrees in parts of the state tomorrow. The lake temperature has been too cold for swimming, but if the dire temperature predictions turn out to be correct, I might be joining Walter the Fish in the water!

Here he is, inviting me to jump in.



On this hot day, I'm working heatedly on eBook conversions and have commissioned cover artwork for the initial release. I've created a new Author Page on Facebook. If you click on the little Facebook badge on the right sidebar, you can "like" the author page. Not much happening on the page yet....

More & More

My rose gardens are producing flowers at a great rate.

The Bishop, a gallica dating from 1790.



Charles de Mills, another Gallica from the 1800's.



Celsiana, a damask, late 1700's to early 1800's.



Eglanatyne, one of David Austin's modern English Rose hybrids, with antique rose properties.



Rosa canina, Dog Rose, English hedge rose.



York and Lancaster, damask rose from the 1500's.



Roseraie de l'Hay, rugosa hybrid.



A rose-eater invaded my grounds earlier this week. Here's the reason I protect my rose beds with a mesh fence, a very effective barrier against beautiful but hungry deer!

Coming up Roses

Everything so early this year...but I'm revelling in roses. Above and below, the one called John Davis.



A rugosa hybrid--I grow quite a few of them--Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. Normally I feel lucky if this frustrating specimen puts out a single bloom in a season. This year, it's a towering plant absolutely covered with blossoms and blooms, completely justifying my decision to add it to the garden, and be patient!



Tuscany, from the 1590's, a gallica. I grow lots of gallicas!



Camaieux, a striped gallica, from a later period--19th century.



A damask, Quatre Saisons, the fabled Four Seasons Rose, also known as the Autumn Damask for its reblooming ability. The oldest rose I grow, dates to ancient times.



More to come. Many, many more!

Garden Shots

Rose of the Day: Shailer's Provence aka Gracilis, a Boursault variety dating from 1796. My 2 towering specimens derived from a single tiny cutting my mother gave me. Ever a candidate for my "most favourite rose," due to its beauty, scent, and origin. It's blooming about a fortnight to 3 weeks early.

One of the 6 or so butterflies swarming my large lilac bush today. It's the state flower!

The grounds--indeed, the entire landscape everywhere I've been--are so lush and green from recent rains. The rose canes are bent over they are so laden with buds. More rain on the way...so I'm enjoying this glorious sunshine and the cloudless blue sky!