Random Facts.

Weeks ago, Karen at This Old House 2 and Grace of Sense and Simplicity were so sweet.  Each of them tagged me with a blog award ... and I've been too up-to-my-ears in things to acknowledge them here until now.  (I did send each a personal thank you message, so I'm not THAT much of a clod.)  I'm still buried hip-deep in stuff to do this week, but inspiration struck and here I go.

I'm supposed to share some random facts, ones that you may or may not know and might find interesting.

1.  I learned to sew when I was ten years old.  I made my prom dresses as a teen, and even sewed my own wedding dress (and one for my sister).  Many of the clothes my three daughters wore came from my ancient Kenmore sewing machine ... prom dresses for them, too. 

Now, I sew for my dogs.  They get coats, sweaters, and collars.  Greyhounds need special martingale collars, and I make tons of them.  (all profits are donated to Greyhounds Rock, which raises money for canine cancer support and research.)

 
2.  I usually wear my socks inside out.

3.  My coffee cup is my constant companion in the morning, and I'm always misplacing it.  "Where's my coffee cup?" is a regular thing.

4.  Since I started to need reading glasses, I have probably bought 50 pairs.  I have them all over the house, in my purse, in all my cars, and who-knows-where else.  I have sophisticated ones, gaudy ones, classic ones, flowered ones ... all bought cheap, so I don't feel bad when I lose them or break them.  I found a pair in the yard yesterday afternoon.  No telling how long they'd been there.

5.  I love funky shoes and baseball caps.  Here's my newest shoes, with one of my favorite caps ... not your Grandma's rose-themed attire, is it.

Since everyone I can think of who blogs has already done this at least once, I'll keep these awards here instead of passing them along.  I am so honored that Karen and Grace think enough of my little blog to acknowledge it like this.  It's nice to know that I'm not just talking to myself when I'm here.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

An Accidental Combination

I readily admit that I have WAY to many roses still living in pots.  (There are 200+ at last count, which was a while ago.)

As I was watering the other day, I noticed this:

Sally Holmes (the white rose) and Souvenir du Dr. Jamain had snuggled up together, making the most beautiful combination of colors and forms that I've seen in a while.

I think I may have the perfect spot in the garden to show this off.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Moved Almost to Tears.

This week has been a blur.  I was working early in the week to get things here to a point where I could leave them for a couple of days, so I didn't worry about anything while I was in Lynchburg.  Wednesday and Thursday, traveling to and from Lynchburg to give my presentation at the cemetery ... Friday, catching up on work here.  Yesterday, I took my mom to Lynchburg for their Rose Festival (more on this another day). 

This morning, I could finally exhale, take my coffee and my camera to the garden, and see what's out there.  I knew the roses are early this year, and I knew that things were beginning to bloom faster than I anticipated, but I had no idea of the beauty that happened while I wasn't looking.  I was so moved that all I could do was stand in the Rose Field and try not to cry.  It's THAT beautiful.

(you can click on any of these photos to get a larger version.)

Noisettes in the foreground, Portlands in the middle, and ramblers on the left.

Geschwind's Nordlandrose, with America (the rambler, not the modern climber) on the right.

Shailer's Provence.  Can you see why this is one of my very favorite roses?

Some of the Chinas, left to right, Hume's Blush, Gruss an Teplitz, Ducher, Old Blush, Napoleon, Jean Bach Sisley, and Cl. Pompon de Paris.

Portlands in the foreground (Glendora, Rose du Roi, Rose du Roi a Fleurs Pourpres, and another Glendora), Geschwind's Nordlandrose in the back right, and Vanity on the top left.

In this photo, Autumn Damask is the rose in front, and I also see Tuscany Superb, White Bath, Shailer's Provence, and Zephirine Drouhin.

Looking west toward the barn.

The opposite view, east toward the garage and the house.

Noella Nabonnand, Tea Climber, 1901

A detail of the flowers on Zephirine Drouhin ... she is a beacon of hot pink in the garden.

Kathleen Harrop shares the arch opposite Zephirine Drouhin.

This is still a very young garden.  All of this was created in the last two years, if you can believe it.  We prepped the ground for this garden two springs ago, and the first roses went into the ground during the first week of June that year. 

Photos cannot capture the feeling of standing in the middle of this many roses.  There's so much to see, I don't know what to at look first.  Everywhere I look, I find something beautiful.  It's something that MUST be experienced in person. 

Because of this, I am going to open the garden for visitors next Sunday (May 16) from noon until 4:00.  I still have weeds everywhere (though there aren't as many as there were a short time ago)  The rambler fence looks like a haystack.  The nursery roses may or may not be ready ... but that's not the point.  There are FLOWERS in the garden, and I'm itching to share them.  If you're local, please plan to come.  (If you're on my mailing list, you'll hear about this again in an email.) 

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

Some Roses in the Lynchburg Old City Cemetery

In yesterday's post, I hinted about the wonderful roses I saw and photographed on Wednesday afternoon when I arrived at the Cemetery in Lynchburg.  For this week's edition of Friday Flowers, here are some of them for you to enjoy.  (The bright sunshine made some flowers look fabulous, and others look electric and gaudy.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased.)

Belle Amour

Celsiana

Mutabilis

La Marne

Sarah Van Fleet

Striped Moss (and a friend)

New Dawn

Tuscany is really Chianti red, not this electric magenta.  For some reason, tho, I kinda like it.

Fellemburg

Zephirine Drouhin, with Mutabilis in the background.

... and another view of Zephirine Drouhin.

My presentation today went really well.  Believe it or not, there were no glitches with my laptop or the projector.  It sure didn't feel like I talked for a full two hours.  Everyone listened intently and asked really good questions.  I think we all left there having learned something new. 

Guess where I'm taking my mom on Saturday?

Today's program was the preliminary event of the Cemetery's Rose Festival.  Saturday, there will be rose sales, tours, demonstrations, and much more.

Will I see any of you there?

Greetings from Lynchburg!

When I got into town today, I went straight to the Old City Cemetery to check on preparations for my presentation tomorrow morning.  The weather was clear and sunny, and the roses are probably a week ahead of mine at home.  I spent two hours photographing everything I could find.

This evening, I'll show you some of the buildings (and other structures) and vistas ... so you can see how beautiful it is.

This was beside my Jeep as I parked when I arrived.  I think the climber is Dortmund.  (I'll confirm this when I get back there tomorrow morning.)

Climbing Souvenir de la Malmaisson

Tombstones, with the Cato Garden in the background.

The Chapel.

The wall of the Confederate Section, where many of the roses grow.

The trees are huge!

A peek at the mountains, over the tombstones, through the trees.

This is Blossomtime, across from the Chapel.

I'm really excited about my program tomorrow. 

I'll be back on Friday, with Friday Flowers from Lynchburg.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)

My Favorite Rose Today ... Schoener's Nutkana

The roses in the garden are beginning to bloom fast and furious.  Every day, there's more and more flowers ... it's so exciting!

This is Schoener's Nutkana.  I look forward to it every spring, and it never disappoints.

I got this rose three years ago by mistake.  I had ordered a rare hybrid tea called Schultheis' American Beauty.  The tag on the rose I received was the one I ordered, so I had no reason to suspect that there was a mistake.

Then it bloomed, and I knew this was not the rose I ordered.  It's a large arching shrub, and every spring it is completely covered with huge, gorgeous, dark pink flowers.  Look at those stamens!!

These flowers are a full 4 inches across!  Look how many of them there are on the bush ... and it's just getting started.

By the end of the week, it will be completely covered.

Look at the stem ... it's almost completely thornless.  Schoener's Nutkana's one weakness is that it can be somewhat susceptible to blackspot.  This is easily controlled with fungicide.

I was having fun this evening, playing with backlighting.  The petals are delicate, and they glowed in the light of the setting sun.

After it finishes blooming, Schoener's Nutkana must move.  Since it isn't the hybrid tea I expected it to be, I cannot leave it where it is sprawling all over its neighbors.  I have a perfect new spot, a little behind where it is now, in a bed with two lilac bushes. 

This rose needs room to be able to spread its graceful branches.  I have been told that I can expect it to reach 6 feet high and 8 or more feet wide ... I can't wait!

******************************

Let me take a minute to thank everyone who left comments here or sent emails expressing sympathy about our water-damaged ceiling.  Grandson's ceiling is the only damage (thank goodness)  Our floors and our furniture are fine.  The air conditioning repair-guy was here this afternoon.  He repaired the unit, and things should be working well from now on. Once things dry completely, I'll repair the ceiling and you'll never know there was ever a problem.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)

A Not-So Pleasant Surprise.

At 5:15 this morning, Grandson came into our room.

"Grandmother."

"Yes, Honey"

"There's water on my floor and a big, wet circle on the ceiling."

I'm really proud of myself for not blurting out the expletive I was thinking at the time.

(this is what it looked like this evening)

It's been really hot here since Saturday, and we turned the air conditioning on yesterday.  We had no way of knowing that the condensate drain for the unit in the attic was clogged.  During the night, water poured onto the attic floor, through Grandson's bedroom ceiling onto the floor, through the living room ceiling below, and was beginning to drip onto the carpet and ottoman.  We had to move fast.

We got trash cans to catch the pouring water, and piled towels onto the floor to soak up the water.  (This was one time that I was thankful that I love towels and have a whole linen closet full of them.  We needed every single one.)

As the day went on, and the pouring became dripping and finally stopped, the skim coating on the ceiling drooped lower and lower.  By afternoon, pieces began to fall.  I was hoping to be able to leave it till tomorrow, after the a/c repair crew comes, but I couldn't.  We spread drop cloths, and I scraped off everything that was loose and falling.  It's about half the ceiling.  I'm just sick.

The plasterer did such a wonderful job when he repaired this ceiling while we were restoring this room a few years ago.  Now we have to do it all over again.

I'm going to do my best Scarlett O'Hara impression for the now ... tomorrow is another day, and I will think about repairing all of this later.  Once it's dry, I can better assess the damage and figure out how to proceed.

It sucks to go backward. 

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)