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.)