Back into the big chill...

Hey guys, hope you all had a warm and happy Thanksgiving...the weather was certainly lovely...until the next day...since then...temps. have gone back into the dumps, and here on Whidbey we are at 19 degrees, and going down...
However, there is much to be thankful for still.  Our roses are tough plants and most of them could care less if it gets a little cold, got to love that with the warm/cold cycles are are seeing this year.  And, there are our memories of bloom times past...with lovely roses decorating the inside of our houses in lots of ways...once of which is my favorite...rose painted china...and wow I have to tell you what happened on Thanksgiving this year.  One of our guests came in carrying a bowl with a potted plant in it...well, you say, lots of folks carry bowls around on Thanksgiving day...and you are right...but after she took the plant out of the bowl...this is what I saw....and I am still overwhelmed

 

a 10.5 inch late Victorian 1900 German porcelain bowl...am I blessed or what?

Hope she brightens your day as she is doing mine

thinking thoughts of spring...best Claire

A FUN time!

A week or so ago, some members from Tacoma came up to bring me a couple of very special roses...the Hybrid Wichurana, Rambler Madam Constans, one of the roses that only Vintage seems to have had in the US, and N 92 Nanjing, a china, again, seems to be unavailable in commerce in the US now.  I really tried to purchase Madam Constans from Greg, but he had run out of plants before I could get on to him....but, I guess it is better to be lucky than good...because the plant he sold down south was very well grown, and we were able to divide it as it were.  Now the China rose, well I didn't know about her until I was offered a start...but, I think you guys know that my youngest son and his wife live in China, and Brendan did his post graduate work at Johns Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, so he knows that part of China well.  Now, I am going to quote from HMFR
"N92 Nanjing" is planted in various parks and roadsides of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in China. It was collected by Dr. Y. Ueda in 2002 from a plant in front of the gate of the Jiangsu Forestry Academy in Nanjing"
So, I thought I would tell my son Brendan about my new rose with its connection to Nanjing...well, before I could send that e-mail, I got one from him, and what do you know...they were spending the weekend in Nanjing...he has been to the park where the rose was found, and looks forward to seeing her in bloom here on Whidbey...pretty cool don't you agree?
Anyway, here are some photos of our rosy day out

It was a great day, lots of fun, very low keyed, and I look forward to doing it again soon
Have a rosy day
Claire

Garden Tour 2014 - Flatwater Garden

Here are some of my roses in bloom...to find out more about Heritage Garden Roses please click here, to find out more about the Cascadia Heritage Roses Group for rose growers in Northern California, Oregon, Washington and BC, click here

Now...for some rose garden photos