My First Rose Rustle of the Year

Over the weekend, I met up with some rose friends in Harrisonburg, Virginia ... about a two hour drive from here.  When I was about an hour from home, whizzing southbound on Route 29 in Madison County, I saw a flash of pink on the roadside embankment.  My "rosey sense" was tingling big time.

 

 

 

Since I was on the way to a fairly civilized gathering, I didn't stop ... even though I had boots and my rustling kit in the car with me.  It was a ditch, after all, and I didn't to be filthy or wet when I arrived at Dennis's house.  When I got to the party and I told Dennis what I saw, he scolded me for not stopping right then.  (I should have known.)  I promised that I would go back in a day or two, and that I would report my findings to soothe his (and my) curiosity.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday morning, I put Ruby in the Jeep, and we set out to see which rose this could be.  The shoulder of the road is fairly wide at that point, fortunately, and I could get the Jeep all the way off the road with a bit of room to spare.  Armed with pruners in my pocket, and my camera around my neck, I stepped into the ditch ... after doing a quick survey to check for poison ivy ... none found, thank goodness.

 

 

 

 

Turns out, this is a rose that I am very familiar with ... I know it as 'Shailer's Provence', and I have collected it at least four times in different locations.  In fact, this rose holds the distinction of being the very first rose I ever rustled (along with 'Dr. W. Van Fleet' on the same property) in either 2004 or 2005.

 

 

 

 

 

While light traffic flew past my Jeep parked on the shoulder of the road, I worked quickly.  I snapped these photos for documentation, pruned off two long stems that I could reach without climbing the embankment, tossed the stems into the car, and I drove away.  The whole process lasted a maximum of two or three minutes.

 

A few miles up the road, I stopped in a parking lot so I could trim the stems and put them in some water (a peanut butter jar).  I cut the stems into proper cuttings when I got home ... wrapped them in a damp paper towel, sealed in a plastic bag, and put the packet into the refrigerator.  I will plant the cuttings in little milk jug/soda bottle greenhouses later this morning.

 

Two buds from my roadside rustle in an antique baby bottle on my kitchen windowsill this morning.

 

 

My original 'Shailer's Provence' on 5/20/2013 (tagged "Lansdowne Road Climber" because that's where I found it.)

 

 

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Please allow me to shift gears here for a second to thank each of you for your generous words of encouragement and comfort in response to Daniel's death last week.  I am truly humbled by the volume of comments and email that I have received.  Just to let you know, I'm okay.  It helps to know that we had no choice but to let Daniel go when we did ... no doubts, no wondering ... it was time, and I am very grateful to have the ability and immense responsibility to do this for him.

 

One message I received will always stick with me ...

 

"Daniel is no longer where he was, he is where you are.  He will live on in your heart and will always be a part of you."

 

Yes, he will.  Thank you!!

 

My First Rose Rustle of the Year

When we lived in our last house, there was a cluster of small houses and trailers that I passed each time I went to town.  There is a large, old rose in the front yard of the trailer closest to the road.  Many times, I wanted to stop and talk to the owners of the trailer and ask them about their rose.  I never took the time to do it.

At least two years ago, and probably longer than that, all signs of habitation on the property ceased.  I don't know who owns it or why it appears to be abandoned.  I suspect that it may soon be a victim of road widening, but this is just a guess on my part.

The bush is approximately 7 to 8 feet tall, and is wider than it is tall.

While I was out running errands one day last week, and I had my D-SLR camera with me, I decided to stop to see what rose this is and take photos.  I found that it appears to be an early-style white Noisette and it is very healthy and vigorous .. despite having at least two rogue weed trees growing out of it.

After I finished taking photos, I returned to my car and fetched my trusty Felco pruners.  I trimmed off a low-hanging cane with lots of good cutting material, tossed it into the car, and headed for home.

If my hunch is correct and this property IS going to be demolished, it is important that this old rose be preserved. 

The cane I cut off yielded 11 cuttings, which are now planted in a milk jug, sitting on a shelf in a north-facing window in our cool basement.  I expect to see roots in a month or two ... if this happens, I'll have plants for my garden and to share with friends.

Thank you very much for your kind words of sympathy about my accident with the chef's knife.  My finger is feeling better than I thought it would at this point, and I'm not taking pain meds anymore ... just the antibiotics.  I mustered up the courage earlier this morning to change my whole bandage and check on the wound itself, and it looks really good (relatively speaking, considering a slice of my finger is missing.) 

I hope to be able to downsize the bandage in a day or two ... this vet-wrap club on my finger is really awkward.  It helps remind me, though, that I have to take it easy and remember not to overdo things too soon.  I certainly don't want to do anything that will cause this to heal wrong.

Still typing without using my left index finger ... getting pretty good at it, too.  :)