A 360-degree Trip Around the Rose Field.

Armed with my trusty Nikon D70, equipped with its new lens (dropped the old one while on vacation in Tennessee last month) and new memory card (still haven't found where the cats put the old one), I set out for the Rose Field to see what there was to photograph.  Instead of showing you pretty portrait-shots in macro, cropped to avoid the weeds and mayhem, I decided to try a 360 degree tour from one spot ... to give you a bit of an idea of what I have created in this garden.  (All of the photos in this post are saved a bit larger than usual, so you can pour over the details easier if you want.  Click on the image to enlarge it, if you want.)

I stood in one spot, turning counter-clockwise after each shot, to try to get a continuous panorama.  Instead of commentary and drivel, I am just going to give you a list of some of the roses in each photo.  Nice and simple this morning.

Enjoy!

1.  Charles de Mills, gallica

2.  "Connie's Favorite Gallica" (that's the study name)

3.  Cornelia (hybrid musk)

4.  Buff Beauty (hybrid musk)

5.  Renae (climbing floribunda)

6.  Blairii #1 (climber)

7.   The Bishop (hybrid china)

8.  "Ruth's Steeple Rose"  (hybrid china)

9.  "Old Homestead" (hybrid china)

1.  Vanity (hybrid musk)

2.  Marie Pavie (polyantha)

3.  Daybreak (hybrid musk)

4.  Cornelia (hybrid musk)

5.  Zephirine Drouhin (bourbon)

6.  Kathleen Harrop (bourbon)

7.  Puerto Rico (found rose)

8.  Daphne (hybrid musk)

9.  Verdi (hybrid musk)

1.  Geschwind's Schoenste (hybrid multiflora)

2.  Violet Hood (hybrid musk)

3.  Vanity (hybrid musk)

4.  I accidently skipped 4.  Oops.

5.  Verdi (hybrid musk)

6.  La Marne (polyantha)

1.  Russeliana (rambler)

2.  Walsh's America (hybrid multiflora)

3.  Geschwind's Nordlandrose (rambler)

4.  Geschwind's Schoenste (rambler)

5.  Violet Hood  (hybrid musk)

6.  Portland from Glendora (portland/damask perpetual)

1.  Arcata Pink Globe (hybrid setigera)

2.  De la Grifferie (rambler)

3.  Russelliana (rambler)

4.  Walsh's America (hybrid multiflora)

5.  Geschwind's Nordlandrose (rambler)

6.  Belle Isis (gallica)

1.  Arcata Pink Globe (hybrid setigera)

2.  De la Grifferie (rambler)

3.  Portland from Glendora (portland/damask perpetual)

4.  Rose du Roi (portland)

5. Belle Isis (gallica)

6.  "Ruth's German Rose" (hybrid china)

7.  Crepuscule (tea noisette)

The Rose Field contains about 300 roses, all of which were planted in the summer of 2008.  (I chronicled the creation of the garden in THIS blog post.)  Most of the roses have grown far larger than I thought they would, and they crowd each other, flop on one another, and block the carefully-designed paths.  During the Open House on Saturday, I told visitors that this garden reminds me of a children's activity book pencil maze ... you can get to every rose in the garden, you just can't necessarily take a direct route to get there.

The weeds have taken over, and the roses need some maintenance, but the Rose Field is my very favorite garden ... warts and all.  I can stand in the middle of it, surrounded by roses as tall as I am, lost in the color and fragrance.  This post is my attempt to share that sensation with those of you who are unable to visit in person.