Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Wednesday Wanderings (My 200th Post!)

I am working on a new program, to present to a couple of rose societies and garden clubs next year.  My subject (I think) will be Roses in Cemeteries.  It's a subject that's near and dear to me, and one that I think my audience will enjoy.




Today's weather was beautiful!!!  I decided to take my camera and go to Warrenton (about 45 minutes from here) to photograph some roses in the Warrenton Cemetery.  Most of the roses were suffering from our recent heat and lack of rain.  This pink one is in a spot that gets afternoon shade, so it is in pretty good condition.






I spent about an hour and a half in the cemetery, planning the photos I would need for my program.  It was wonderfully cool and breezy (temps only around 80 degrees), so I took my time and enjoyed my stay.  (Look at that blue sky!)

After I finished at the cemetery, I had a wild hare idea ... Warrenton is only about an hour from Lucketts (with one of the BEST junk/antique/decorator stores EVER).  I had time, so I hopped in the Jeep and headed that direction.




I love this store!!  While I was there I found the perfect step-back cupboard for our basement bathroom renovation.  I had planned to build one myself, but this one is perfect (and the price was less than materials would have been), so I bought it on the spot.



It's too big to fit into the Jeep.  I maybe could have forced it ... but I can't do that to my new car.  Not yet.  I've only had it for three weeks.  The husband and I will go back to get it with the pick-up on Saturday. 

This cupboard is the last piece of the puzzle that is our basement bathroom.  I will show you the finished product real soon ... I promise.


(Written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sunset Over the Winery

Last night, as the sun went down over the woods beyond the winery next door, the sky was so beautiful.  It reminded me of the burning of Atlanta scene from Gone With the Wind.  I snapped photo after photo, and each one was more colorful than the one before it.  This was one my favorite.




I'm going outside to water my pots now.  I had hoped that Mother Nature would do it for me overnight ... no such luck.

Go over and visit with Karen at This Old House 2.  Her family said good-bye to their beloved Rottie last night, and I'm sure she could use the company.

(Written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Monday, June 28, 2010

Propagation Time

All of the roses that I have for sale in the nursery are propagated by me from roses that grow in my garden.  Now is the perfect time for me to take cuttings to root the roses that will be next year's crop.  I set my work table in the driveway in the shade, gather my supplies, and get to it. 

With the heat we have been having for the past two weeks, my most important supply is a big glass of lemonade (homemade, of course).



I trim and score each cutting, and dip it into rooting hormone.



It's important to be sure that everything is accurately labeled, with the name of the rose and the date.



Two cuttings per pot, 36 pots per flat.



Place each flat on the mist bench.



I did 4 flats today.  Sticking cuttings is solitary work, and I enjoy the quiet.  It's not lonely, though.  I had company today.



If you want step-by-step instructions to learn to root your own roses, I have a photo tutorial on my Hartwood Roses web site. 

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Sunday, June 27, 2010

It's an Honor to be Nominated

Last week, on a whim, I entered our Family Room renovation in a contest over at Blayne Beacham's This Photographer's Life.  Much to my surprise (and shock and amazement), my room was chosen as one of the finalists!



To vote, visit Blayne's blog, leave a comment or send her an email with a vote for the room you like best, and the room with the most votes wins.  Some of my competition are professional designers, and bloggers with much a larger following than I have, so I probably have zero chance of winning.  I'm just jazzed that the judges liked my family room enough to include it in the contest. 

If you feel inclined, run over there and cast a vote for me, #6.

The voting ends Tuesday, June 29th, at midnight.

Thanks.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.) 

Friday, June 25, 2010

Flowers on Friday ... Crepuscule


cre·pus·cule (kre-pus-kyool)
n.  Twilight.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin crepusculum, from creper, dark.]



I make no secret of the fact that I really don't like the name of this rose.  I know ... 'twilight' ... such a romantic time of day ... but 'Crepuscule' always gets stuck on my tongue.  To me, it sounds like something you need a vaccination to prevent.



I may not care for its name, but I sure love the rose.



'Crepuscule' is a Tea Noisette, introduced in France in 1904 by Francis Debreuil.  It will easily climb 12 feet, covering a structure with its sweet smelling, golden apricot flowers.



I planted Crepuscule on the East Fence in the Rose Field, in a spot that gets full sun all day.  I keep it trained relatively flat to the fence, spreading the branches as horizontally as possible to encourage more flowers.



I resisted adding this rose to the garden ... it was the name.  I still can't hardly say it.  Crepuscule.  It's not getting any easier.



Whatever you call it, this is one great rose! 




And now the moment you've been waiting for ... the winner of the June Giveaway is




Since she lives in Arizona, and I'm not licensed to ship plants there, I'll go to my stash of lovely rosy treasures and send her something special.  (Please contact me with your mailing address, and I will get your package into the mail right away.)


(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Morning Dew

School is out for the summer now, and mornings here are a little bit more relaxed.  Early this morning, while the Husband and the Grandson were still sleeping, I picked up my camera, slipped on my flip flops, and headed outside.


Madame Jules Bouche


Vintage Visalia


Everything in the garden was covered with a fine layer of dew, and the roses sparkled. 


Hadley


Dancing Doll


As I got to "Sawyer Plot Tea", I noticed that there are WAY more Japanese Beetles now than there were the other day.

"Sawyer Plot Tea" ... see the little guy hiding in the petals?


"Sawyer Plot Tea" again.  This is going to be a regular sight here for the next few weeks.  Yuck!


I won't think about Beetles right now ... I'll concentrate on all the loveliness in the garden instead.


Rose de Rescht


A leaf on Autumn Damask


Whenever I'm out in the Rose Field, there is always a Mockingbird keeping an eye on me.  This one was doing a really good Carolina Wren impression while I was taking his picture.



It wasn't only roses that caught my eye this morning.  The low angle of the rising sun creates wonderful light and shadow that highlights many things we don't normally notice.


Spider web on an old tree stump


Pretty weeds


Mushroom in the grass


Dew drops on blades of grass


It's no secret that early morning is probably my favorite time of day.  Walking in the garden, usually with coffee and camera in hand, is a wonderful way to spend quiet time reflecting ... and it's such a relaxing way to start the day.





********** Don't Forget to Enter This Month's Giveaway **********

One lucky Hartwood Roses reader will win "Portland from Glendora", the lovely rose shown above.  To enter, leave a comment on last week's Friday Flowers post HERE.  I will draw the winner at 11:00 on Thursday, June 24.  You can't win if you don't enter.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Garden in Our Hearts

Within each of us lies a garden,
You need only look inside,
It lies within our hearts
Where love and hope abide.

Mary Lovett

It's there in all its splendor
Though some eyes cannot see
The beauty there within themselves,
So they choose not to believe.

Moonlight

But the garden's there, I've seen it
Every time I've witnessed love,
Every time a heart has reached out
With compassion from above.
Each and every act of kindness
Acts of giving, sharing, too.

White Cap

All represent a flower
There inside of me and you.
But each garden must be tended
It needs love and special care,
An abundance of pure water
That is only found in prayer.

Princesse de Nassau

For the Master Gardener knows
of every heart of every bloom
And it's His hope and desire
In your garden you've made room,
So that He may tend the flowers
And may pull a weed or two,
For without the Master Gardener
Hearts have flowers, far too few.
- Gina Laurin

Leda


The minister read this poem at my friend Jack's funeral on Saturday.  I was so moved by the message, that I decided I had to share it here with you.

Having attended funerals for friends on two successive weekends has hit me pretty hard.  Though I knew each of them for a couple of years, I sincerely wish I had known them better than I did.  I knew I could break away from my daily routine visit them later ... or so I thought.  For Diana and Jack, those laters will never come.

I have decided that I will stop putting things off till later.  I have people I want to visit, places I want to go, and things I want to do ... and I will do them NOW. 

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Saturday, June 19, 2010

My Favorite Space ... Welcome to Our Family Room

If you are joining me for the first time, thank you for coming, and welcome to our Family Room.

Have you ever wondered where I am in this old pile of bricks when I'm working on the blog?  I got this new laptop in the fall, combined with our existing wireless network, and I now have my choice of locations to work.  My favorite place is the family room.

This room didn't always look as nice as it does now. Like the rest of the house, this room required serious work on all of the surfaces and systems. Every square inch of the room has been stripped and refinished ... floors, moldings, and the walls. The beautiful results were worth the months of hard work it took to get to this point.

See, there's the laptop.


This is a nice large room, with an odd shape and lots of challenges when it came to arranging the furniture ... two doors, a huge fireplace, a deep pointed bay, a monster radiator, and two large dog beds. I'm not all that satisfied with the arrangement we have now, but it's functional and I'm going leave it alone. One day, I'm sure the solution will come to me.

Floorplan, to help you visualize what I'm talking about.


Here is the only photo I have of this room before I started tearing it apart. I took this with an ancient digital camera in 2002, when we first toured the house with our realtor. All of the stuff, of course, belongs to the prior owners of our house. You can see that they also had trouble figuring out what to do with the bay window area.



Here we are, about half way through the stripping process. I used a heat gun and a scraper to remove all the paint from walls so the plasterer could do his thing. I stripped all the paint off the moldings (heat gun, again) to get the built up paint out of the grooves and contours, so it would be a nice smooth surface for a fresh coat of paint. The moldings in this house, we discovered, have always been painted a pale color.



Here is a tour around the room, after all the walls were scraped and the molding was stripped, sanded, and primed.  The room, at this point, is ready for plaster.

My father-in-law (the electrician) figured out how to snake wiring through these old walls and ceiling, and he installed new lighting throughout the house.  This room received recessed lights in the corners of the ceiling.


Door to the Foyer.  I see a bag of plaster by the steps, so the plasterer must be getting ready to work.


Fireplace, and double doors to the Dining Room.  Everyone has a refrigerator and a couch in their dining room, don't they?




After plaster and paint, the place started coming together.



The color is Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage.


Once the floors were refinished, the place really looked good!



This room, along with the rest of the house, is furnished with items that my husband and I have collected during our 30 years together.  We were antique collectors when antiques were cheap, and we were happy to snap them up and bring them home ... not something you can do so easily today, I'm sorry to say.  Lots of other things came from thrift shops and discount stores.

 
Lazy Boy chairs, pillows from Home Goods, antique trunk with a glass top for the end table, painting over the mantle and the chestnut side-by-side secretary were from estate auctions years ago.


I bid WAY too much for this Victorian sheep painting at the auction ... but I was not going to let that other woman have MY painting.


A view the other direction.  The turquoise armoire is one of my better finds on Craig's List.  All it needed was a good scrubbing.  It holds the Grandson's toys, books, and games.


My father-in-law built the model ship AND the glass case that holds it.


Through the door to the foyer, you can see that the staircase is still half taken apart.


Many of you have already seen our TV cabinet, which used to be our china hutch.  (If not, CLICK HERE to see how I made it.)

In the photo above, you can see one of the reasons why it's so nice to hang out in the Family Room ... this is where our pets hang out, too.  (That's Maggie on the dog bed.)


Emma is sacked out, as usual.


"Whatcha doin', Mom?", says Daniel.


We do just about everything at this coffee table.  It's 42" in diameter, with four wedge-shaped stools tucked underneath, and it's perfect for games, or snacks, or just propping up your feet.  A friend brought me the greyhound pillow on the sofa ALL the way from Scotland.


We took this painting of Heidelberg to Antiques Roadshow a few years ago ... found out that it's not a 19th century painting, but an early 20th century forgery.  I've never heard of the artist that it's supposed to have been painted by, so I can't figure out why someone a hundred years ago would go to the trouble to forge his signature.  All I know is that I think it's pretty cool to have a real live forgery.


I love this painting ... we call it Mrs. Chicken.  I bought this at the same auction as the sheep painting.  I instantly identified with the look on Mrs. Chicken's face, and I knew that I HAD to have it.  She would look better if she took a trip to the conservatory in Richmond for a good cleaning ... we can do that later.


Here you can see the stools under the coffee table.  The wing chair came from a thrift shop.  Ever since I had it reupholstered a few years ago, I haven't been able to stop the cat from scratching on it.  She has practically shredded the corners of the cushion.  The walnut table was a surprise gift from my husband.


Thanks for coming with me on the tour of our Family Room.  Whenever you read the blog now, you can imagine where I am when I create each post. 

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)
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