Growth Spurt

Both of my nephews are on Little League teams. It’s the highlight of my spring to go and watch them play. (I keep score, too, which adds to my experience.) On my younger nephew’s team, the boys are still the same height and weight. But, on my older nephew’s team, some boys have had a growth spurt. This means that even though they’re all 12 year olds, some of them are almost a head taller than others and weigh a few pounds more.

I know you’re wondering what Little Leaguers have to do with gardening. Well. Some of the roses in Auntie K’s Garden have had a HUGE growth spurt in the last few days. Yikes! I went out to do the Japanese Beetle check the other morning and had to bend some canes gently toward me because they are now taller than I am! These new canes are three feet taller than the rest of the plant. I’m sure that when I checked the night before I didn’t have to bend them! (I know the boys will be taller than I am one of these days, too. They’re almost there now!)

Not all of the roses have had this growth spurt. I bought three bare root Liptons at the same time. Two have spurted; one has not. I bought three Magnificas at the same time and only one has spurted. Go figure. Julia Child, Crown Princess Margrethe, and Graham Thomas are all still “normal” sized. Some of the wild roses have suckered (I’m leaving them) but have not shot canes wildly into the stratosphere.

I don’t know what causes the growth spurt in some roses and not in others. The two Liptons that have sprouted are in the Fragrant Garden and are now at window height. So, when the flower buds open in a few days, the sunroom will smell fantastic!

My Fragrant Garden

The cubed shrubs and landscape rock I removed a few years ago were directly below/in front of my sunroom windows—a perfect place for fragrant things, whose scents I imagined wafting indoors on summer afternoons.

So, I put together a list of fragrant plants I loved and started planning – and planting. I used Sir Thomas Lipton roses, Crown Princess Margrethe roses, Munstead lavender, Artemesia Silver Mound, Monarda ( a few varieties, including bergamot), and Anise Hyssop. I also used scented geraniums in glazed pots so I could take them inside in the winter.

The Artemesia (also called wormwood) reminds me of the beach. Its feathery foliage is the fragrant part of this plant. It doesn’t have a flower. Monarda (also called Bee Balm) havs a variety of scents. Again, the leaves are the fragrant part. Bergamot (a monarda) has the scent of Earl Grey tea. I love this one. Its flower is pale periwinkle. The Anise Hyssop smells like licorice. It’s in the mint family (as are the monarda) and has purple spikes of flowers, which the bees love.

The other day I was sitting in the sunroom with my glass of iced tea thinking I must have brushed up against the Lipton roses because the scent was so close. I smelled my work shirt, which did not carry the scent of the roses. I took another sip of tea and another deep breath and realized the scent was coming through the open windows from the garden—exactly as I had imagined!

I love it when a plan comes together!

Everything's Coming up Roses!

The heat and humidity earlier this week made me melt, but the roses LOVED it. It was just the thing they needed to burst into their full glory. I love roses in the garden. These days, I’m partial to the shrub roses. Don’t get me wrong. I love the Hybrid Tea roses and the Floribundas, but I don’t love digging the trenches in the fall and burying them so they can survive our cold, cold winters. Shrub roses are hardy to our zone and don’t need a lot of fuss and muss.

I mentioned Sir Thomas Lipton in an earlier post. I can’t remember how I stumbled on this one originally, but I loved it immediately and love it still. There are three in my current garden.

Rosa Magnifica is the second hardy shrub rose in Auntie K’s garden. Bright fuchsia blossoms re-appear all season. I have planted this rose in many gardens of “non-gardeners” and they’ve all survived. I have three of these as well.

Morden Blush was a new addition last year, and it’s a keeper. As is Crown Princess Margrethe (an English rose). Graham Thomas, another English rose, has been struggling, but is making a comeback. The rabbits ate the canes down to the crown, so I had to put a cage around it. I thought I’d have to start over, but noticed a small green shoot last week. So, we’ll see how it goes. Last year, I inherited three unidentified shrub roses—all of which are in full bloom now.

And, I do have Rosa Julia Child, a floribunda, in honor of my grandmother. (They both cooked with a lot of butter.) I don’t bury it, but did use a cone last winter. It worked well.

If you like roses, but have avoided them because of the fuss, try a hardy shrub rose. You’ll be glad you did!

Check out this great list of hardy shrub roses from the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

An Old Fashioned Garden?

One of the things I miss about my St Paul house is the garden. I had worked for years to get it “just so.” And, while I didn’t want to re-create the entire garden at my new home, I did want to include a few favorites. I found a few items without trouble, but two items proved more difficult than I anticipated! And, I really wanted them because I liked the blossoms and fragrance of both. Most times, you get one or the other.

The first item I looked for was a rugosa shrub rose called “Sir Thomas Lipton.” I couldn’t find them in nurseries anywhere. I finally was able to locate a place in southern Minnesota that carried them bare root. When I went to pick them up, the sales person said they didn’t get much call for these roses anymore since they’re so old fashioned.

The second item was a lilac called “Albert Holden.” I drove from nursery to nursery for two seasons in search of the elusive Mr. Holden, and eventually found him at Dundee Nursery in Plymouth. The nurseryman said, “You know, people don’t ask for these old-fashioned lilacs anymore. They want the new varieties.”

I laughed when he said it and told him that it was the second time I’d heard the phrase “old fashioned” about shrubs I was putting in my garden. He said I must just be one of those old fashioned girls.

If it means I have two of my favorites in my gardens now, “old fashioned” is a label I can live with!