Janet has called twice in the past two days to invite me to come around for a look. As she doesn’t invite unless there is something splendid to see, I stopped on my way home from work-around 6pm. The skies had finally clouded over and looked stormy. Her courtyard-redolent with the fragrance of roses. Thousands of roses. Anyone who loves roses believes, works, and hopes for a moment like this.
I spent perhaps a half hour there. The first view as I drove in shocked me- it was so stunning. A mild winter, an unusually mild and rainy spring had given way to a relentless spell of hot weather. Her early summer garden burst forth with a spectacular show of hands. My second trip around the garden, I took the time to see everything. The Canadian Explorer rose John Davis-perfection. Who knows how many years ago I planted this pair of roses.
There was plenty to see. The white clematis Montana rambling over the wall and into the roses-splendid. The peonies, mostly singles and Japanese types, are in all stages of bud and bloom.
Every plant looked perfectly happy, and beautifully tended. Janet puts an incredible amount of time,thought and work to her garden-that was evident everywhere I looked.
This kousa dogwood has been in her garden as long as I have known her-25 years. I have never seen it bloom like this. I am especially fond of Kousas, as they comes into bloom slowly enough to give you time to enjoy all of its stages.
Roses and clematis are a heavenly combination. I spent a half hour in heaven at the end of a grueling day-thanks a million, Janet. I did spend some of that time thinking about all the work that has gone on in this garden over the years-at one point (when I was young) every square inch of this garden was double dug and loaded with all manner of compost.
The explorer rose John Cabot was representing just as beautifully as John Davis. These roses are tough and hardy in my zone. They are also amazingly long lived. I have planted a number of them over the years; those that were planted in front yard gardens I see they are still going strong. When I managed the perennial department for Al Goldner, he indulged my passion for roses. In addition to the tea roses he was so fond of, we carried many varieties of shrub roses and rose species. I have a memory of being pulled over at the US-Canadian border; I had been to Hortico, and had five hundred bareroot roses on my truck-and no phytosanitary certificate. I never tried that again.
This June flush is the best and the brightest we will have in a season. That alone makes a strong and splendid display all the more precious. Of course I went home wanting to grow more roses. The few I have are beautiful in their own right at the moment, and I am greatly enjoying them.
These queen bees of the garden are worth the trouble, as when they are good, they are very very good. They have a beauty and charm missing from the newer varieties of “landscape roses”-I cannot exactly explain why. The knockout series of roses have their place-they are tough and disease resistant. They lack a little of the romance I associate with roses. I will plant them in places where no other rose will do-but what I saw here was everything I would ever want in a rose, and some years do not get.
Thanks for this, Janet.
This gorgeous Melkite Catholic church needed little in the way of decoration; the beautifully vaulted white-walled interior was formally appointed with iconographic paintings of figures central to their faith. I found four 3″ beech that had not survived the season in my landscape supplier’s bone yard; they would be destined for another kind of life. Bare grapevine garland would be dressed up with bitterweet vine and the rose “Hollywood”. No other white rose opens so beautifully, and stays fresh longer, out of water. The pews we marked simply with sprays of grasses with seed heads intact, to which we added orange and white roses. The dressy olive green double faced satin formally acknowledged the space, and the occasion. 
Even the bride’s bouquet included delicate birch branches. Variegated miscanthus grass and hosta complimented the orange freesia, ranunculus and roses. The bare stems were dressed in braided satin ribbon; the contrast in materials is particularly lovely. 
Stout bundles of willow sticks get my flowers in the air. The rustic fiber pots filled with hemp fiber make an unmistakable reference to the garden. The metal pole set in concrete not seen here is an apparatus which keeps the flowers aloft securely.
The generic quality of the room fades away; what is left is a celebration of saturated fall color, and a very important event involving family and friends. The tabletop level decor has interest and presence which will please the eye, but not obstruct anyone’s view.
Celeste provided the table numbers, the calligraphy of her own hand. Large pieces of mood moss, when grooved, made naturally beautiful stands. The fresh green acorns-another nod to the season. 
The effect of these flowers is so enhanced by the company of a length of bittersweet vine. The vine creates a visual context for the flowers. The creation of a visual world complete and believable is a daily challenge in the store; important events demand this too.
June 15th my roses are usually in full flush-anyone who loves and grows roses waits all year for this moment . These haughty queens of the garden do deliver. The smell is divine, the colors breathtaking-and their shapes are gorgeous. Carefree Beauty, looking good.
Sally Holmes, as graceful and lovely as any rose could be. It looks English bred, does it not?
Jeanne LeJoie, the miniature climber, is covered with a thousand pink extra double buttons-from top to bottom. How it thrives is part of its charm.
The big flowered Eden, with a classic double rose shape, is irresistable. 
These roses all seem to live together companionably-in form and color. I like the idea of companionable. My garden is too small for this standoffish plant and that sulky one. Today the only thing on my mind are the roses.
My little collection of roses is starting to “represent”, as my Texas friend would say. I only grow a few. The dwarf climber Jeanne LaJoie is perfectly hardy and willing for me; it does not mind at all being planted with the electric meter. Mini-Jeanne is paired with a voluptuous large flowered climber named Eden-the flower is so beautiful, and the plant is so-so for me, although the foliage seems healthy. This large flowered climber, also known as Pierre de Ronsard, and bred by Meilland in 1987, hasn’t flowered yet-but it is showy.
