Happy First Day of March! Just 20 short days left to the official start of Spring and I am so excited! I’ve missed sharing little things with you here on the blog, and figured now was as good as time as any to dust things off and get back to sharing more of the things I love with you! Hands down one of the things I’m looking forward to the most this Spring is adding more roses to our little garden! Yes…I know…I’ve officially hit old lady status. But before you get all judgy, hear this one out. In a world were I (and possibly you), are trying to navigate living with less, finding joy in the ordinary and making a more positive impact on the people and environment around me, there’s nothing more rewarding that growing and caring for something living. Mother Nature really knows what she’s doing, and to watch that first hand in a more meaningful way this past year has really been therapeutic for me after losing my Mom. Now, I will be the first one to admit that a green thumb never has come natural to me. Until last year, most plants barely made it a full season with me, but like all things, commitment, hard work and passion can easily make “I can’t”, into “I can”. So, before I go get too wordy on ya…why roses? Truth be told, I’ve never liked them. Ha! Really…never cared for their thorny bushes and frankly never preferred their blooms for bouquets. That is until I discovered garden roses, and ones that have the.best.fragrance.ever! And I had my three year old daughter to thank for that!
Last year on a trip to pick out some herbs, K insisted on this rose (shown below)…like insisted! She loved it’s two tone color and promised to take care of it. (And FYI having a small urban garden has been one of the best things to do with our kids! They love ‘helping’, they’re learning about how things grow…and I’ve learned if we grow it, they eat it…or at the very least will try it. P & K both eat Kale straight from the garden! KALE!!!!) So, right before I put my foot down on this rose bush, K looked me straight in the eye and said “Mommy, just smell it”. Well the girl was right…that thing smelled amazing! So the wild two-toned plant came home with us. And K took care of it all summer long! I was consistently surprised at how fragrant it was, even with only one or two blooms, and the joy it brought just to walk past it had me reconsidering my dislike for the plant. A few blooms made their way into some gorgeous bouquets we gave to friends and everyone commented on the fragrance those roses brought into their home. Pair all of that with the fact that the rose petals made a very easy rose water and a few petals sprinkled in a bath was aromatherapy in it’s simplest of states. Needless to say, I was hooked!
Well fast forward to this month and I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of my David Austin garden roses (curious to know how our first season with them went? Check out this post here!). I spent quite a bit of time researching more on roses throughout the fall and winter and became obsessed with gorgeous views on pinterest that included climbing roses and romantic English gardens…the annual Chelsea Flower Show also filled my Instagram feed with gorgeous, inspirational images. So, to bring some of that into my own home and garden, I ordered a few varieties from well known flower breeder David Austin and am anxiously awaiting their delivery later this month! I have some wild ideas for these plants…and hopefully will enjoy their repeating blooms, sweet fragrances and cut flowers in our home and in the garden. Below are the varieties I ordered. The first three being bare root and the last one being a 2 quart potted! So friends…have you grown roses? Are you interested in learning with me? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Albrighton Rambling Rose
K picked this one out. She loved it for its sweet little blooms…I love it due to it’s minimal thorns. Perfect for her! Plus we’ve got an idea for this on her playhouse!
Purchase here.
Love the idea of this repeat flowering, highly fragrant climbing rose. Now to find the perfect place to have it climb!
Purchase here.
Alnwick Rose
Just loved the look and color of these blooms!
Purchase here.
Royal Jubilee
These roses look more like a peony than what I always considered to be a rose! Their bold color made them irresistible to try!
Purchase here.
