Propagation Workshop.

I answer a lot of questions when I talk to people about roses. One of the most common questions is, “How do you root roses?” (Another question is, “What do I do about Japanese Beetles?” We’ll talk about that some other time.) If you’d like to learn propagate roses yourself, join us on June 27th, at 9:00 am, for our first Propagation Workshop. The cost is $20.00, and all materials and supplies are included.

Participants will learn exactly how to take cuttings. (Jeanne Lajoie, a miniature climber by the front fence, must move to another bed, so we are going to use her for our example.)



You’ll learn how and where the roots form. We’ll discuss rooting hormones and planting media. AND you will leave here with cuttings in a pot, ready to grow their own roots. Hands-on learning is best, I believe.

If you want to trade cuttings with other rose growers, especially by mail, I’ll show you how to package your cuttings so they arrive safely.

Registration for this workshop is limited to 12 people. This is probably all I can handle by myself and still give everyone individual attention. The registration form is on the web site (www.hartwoodroses.com). Judging by the response I have already received just by telling people about this, I expect the class to fill up quickly.

Gotta go. We’re open today … I have to make the place look presentable.

Opening Day.

Our weather yesterday was glorious! Cool and cloudy weather in the morning changed to clear and sunny by lunch time. It was perfect to tour the garden, and made nice working conditions for my volunteers.

Speaking of volunteers, there was no way I could have pulled this off without them. The day ran perfectly, our customers were very well cared for, and I wasn’t a frazzled mess at the end of it all. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We met the kindest, loveliest people yesterday. Some came by because they had been following our house renovation in the newpaper articles over the years. Others came specifically for the roses and gardens, having seen notice of our opening online or in newspaper ads. Still more came, late in the afternoon, wandering over from the wine festival next door. Almost everyone left carrying pots of baby roses to add to their gardens.

Many people came with a list in hand. Some had printed my availability list from the web site … others had hand-written lists. Everyone asked lots of questions.

We sold out of more roses than I expected … and some of them surprised me. Francois Juranville, a lovely, lanky, pink rambler, was one of the first to go. Others, like Paul Neyron, Swan Lake, and Grandmother’s Hat, are particularly lovely and very hard to resist. At the end of the day, Steve updated the Roses for Sale list on the web site to show the ones that we no longer have … in fact, he will be completely redesigning that page in the next week or so.

I was so tired at the end of the day … but it was a good kind of tired. I’m really surprised how good it felt to share my roses like this. We had a wonderful day, and I’m excited to see what next Saturday will bring.

Final Preparations.

Hartwood Roses officially opens for business tomorrow. I’m almost ready … I think.

It took Steve and some friends almost all day Wednesday, but the top of the oak tree is cut up and stacked next door as firewood. All that's left in the driveway is a bit of saw dust from all the chain sawing.

I bought the first of the roses here in 2002. There was no way I could imagine that the trip with friends to Sherando Roses that day would lead to all of this. Two of those roses, Celestial and Amanda Patenaude, are still here.

Right now, the gardens don’t look as good as I wanted them to. This week’s storms have pounded the petals off many of the roses, and the ground is pretty saturated. Fortunately, we avoided the hail storm on Wednesday. There was hail down at the barn, but none up here by the house …. weird.

Weeds are trying to take over. All the rain we had this week has softened the ground and made it very easy to pull them, but I haven’t been able to put any consistent time into the effort. When you come, you are welcome to pull a weed or two to take home as a souvenir.

All of the roses for sale are neatly tagged and lined up on benches in the driveway. Everything is alphabetized, so it should be fairly easy to find the rose you want. We moved the Pot Ghetto roses into their own area, so no one would get confused and try to buy them.

Some of my friends and family are coming to help, since we have no idea how many people to expect. Kim and Gale will write up sales. Rick and John, ARS certified rosarians, will be here to answer any of your rose-related questions. Steve will direct parking, and Mary Ann will fill in wherever needed … if everything goes as planned.

While you are here, spend a little time getting to know the Hartwood Hounds. Emma and Daniel, and their friend TJ, will meet and greet everyone while working to support their favorite cause, the Greyhound Health and Wellness Program at Ohio State University. Dr. Couto, the director, and his staff are doing the nation’s best research to treat and cure canine cancer. Read more at http://www.greyhoundsrock.org/.

I think that’s all. Tomorrow will be here before I know it. I’ve worked for a year and a half to get ready for this …. wish me luck.

After the Storm.

Last night, around dinnertime, we had a terrific storm blow through. I was outside watering the roses, talking to a friend on my cell phone. My phone died while I was talking, so I sat in the Jeep with my phone plugged into the charger to finish our conversation. While I was there, the wind and rain started.

We have three huge oak trees in our front yard. No one doubts that these trees predate the Civil War, so they have probably been a part of this property since the beginning. The center tree now has no top.



The wind was frightening. Straight-line winds coming from the northwest, rocking the Jeep, and damaging our trees. I saw it all happen.





Steve and a couple of friends are going to get out later this morning, and cut up and remove the debris. I will call a tree company later, to have them tidy up the torn parts of the tree itself.

All the roses (the ones in the garden and the potted ones for sale) are fine. The tree was our only damage.

The Rose List is Posted!

As promised, the list of roses that I have for sale was posted on the web site …. yesterday, instead of today. My dear husband (the brains behind my web site) was off by a day, thinking yesterday was June 1st instead of May 31st. If you are reading this without having seen the list, you'll find it if you click on the web site link at the top of this page. (The list is WAY too long to put here.)

Here are some photos of a few of the available roses, offered to whet your appetite.

Aviateur Bleriot
Hybrid Wichuriana, 1910


Maggie
Bourbon, Bermuda Mystery Rose


Lady Mary Fitzwilliam
Hybrid Tea, 1882


Glenn Dale
Hybrid Wichuriana, 1927


Paul Neyron
Hybrid Perpetual, 1869


American Pillar
Hybrid Wichuriana, 1902


Come see us for our Grand Opening on Saturday. We’ll have refreshments, garden tours, and Consulting Rosarians here to answer your rose-related questions. (If you come, be sure to tell me that you read this blog.)

Saturday? That’s only 5 days away …. I have to go pull weeds.

Catching up on Last Week.

Last week was a blur. This blog is a little bit stale because of it, and I'm sorry. Too much time spent entertaining visitors and working in the garden, and almost no time sitting here at the computer.

My calendar was completely full:

Saturday, the 23rd, my friend Robert and I went to Maryland for a rose day. We had lunch with Stephen Scanniello and half a dozen other garden nuts at a cute little Caribbean restaurant … I ordered curried goat, at Robert’s suggestion, and it was really good. After lunch, we went to Behnke’s Nursery to hear Stephen speak about his new book. From the nursery, we visited Nick Weber at the Heritage Rosarium. Nick is my inspiration for growing roses the way I do, though I can only hope to approach his level of experience and expertise. I am awed by what he has created.







Monday, Memorial Day, we had a gathering here for our Garden Web friends. It was a chance to get acquainted in person and put a name (or, in this case a User ID) to a face, and make real friends out of cyber friends.

Storms on Monday night and Tuesday flattened a lot of the roses. The ones that didn’t get knocked over had most of their petals beaten off. The resulting wet conditions made an ideal environment for boytrytis … there are a lot of balled, brown, rotten flowers out there. Banshee, Clotilde Soupert, and many of the fuller-flowered antique Hybrid Teas are suffering the worst.

Tuesday was my first Greenhouse Management class. I’ll be in class all day every Tuesday until the first week of July. (This is probably something I should have done before I built my greenhouse.) Hopefully, class will teach me a bit about how to avoid some of last winter's problems. I know it already has me wanting a larger greenhouse. Maybe one day …

Wednesday was a full day of garden touring. The day began at Edible Landscaping in Afton, Virginia. They have a huge assortment of edible plants … I left with 2 new figs for my collection, and plans to return for a mulberry and a pomegranate. (I intentionally drove the Jeep, so I had limited cargo room to help keep my plant-buying to a minimum.) We went from Edible Landscaping to the garden and estate of Courtnay Daniels. She has created the most spectacular garden EVER. There is room after room of perennials and shrubs and evergreens and trees in the garden, all carefully designed and impecably maintained. It was a rare treat to visit there. (Click HERE to see the article about her garden, published in the Wall Street Journal last fall.) There is no way photos can adequately capture the views and the details of Mrs. Daniels’ garden, but here are a couple so you can get a taste of the place.





The day ended here, with tour of my garden and lots of questions. Visitors headed for home as the sun was setting … it was a very long, very wonderful day.

Thursday and Friday were work days. The weather so far this spring hasn’t been very cooperative, and Thursday was the first day this year I could get fungicide applied to the whole garden. Some of the roses are really suffering because of it. Mme. Pierre Oger and Purple Tiger are probably not going to be here much longer … neither of them has many leaves left, and those that remain are yellow and blotchy. I have too many other roses to plant … I can’t waste time coddling roses that displease me.

Yesterday, we hosted the Richmond Rose Society’s annual picnic. 40-or-so visitors descended at lunch time, each bringing a covered dish for pot-luck lunch. I answered so many questions about the house and its history, and everything about the garden. The French ramblers on the fence are at their peak now, and they were the perfect back-drop for the day’s activities.



Each set of visitors has helped me prepare for the Grand Opening on Saturday …. that’s only 6 day away …. Oh no!

Approaching Full Bloom.

I find I have to walk the garden at least twice a day, or I might miss something. Many of the roses are in full bloom. Others, the fence ramblers for instance, are covered with hundreds of buds … showing the promise of quite a show in a week or two.


(Bella Donna)

Here is a slideshow of 125 photos of what was blooming here on Wednesday.

Slide Show

It’s hard to get good photos in the middle of the day. The yellows and whites can either look radiant and etherial or harsh and washed out.


(Madame Plantier)

The reds …. they are completely oversaturated and electric. (I’ll have to get better photos of them in lower light.)


(Rose de Rescht)

Pinks are usually pretty easy.


(Sunny South)

Plan to come visit us for our opening on June 6th, and see the roses in person.