Garden Update: November 2017 -

It’s finally time for another Queen of Hearts update! It’s been a while since I posted about my garden. It’s mid-November and though the trees have lost their leaves, I’m delighted to tell you that the roses are still going strong. It’s hard to believe they’re just six months old! I can’t even wait to see how big they are this time next year. Let’s take a walk through the garden, shall we?

Scentimental

This is the shining star of my new garden. I’m positively obsessed with this whimsical hybrid tea rose. When it first started blooming, I actually thought it was Bordeaux because the blooms were solid red! As the rose began to mature, the blooms emerged striped like candy canes. The best part though is the sweet perfume. Sentimental is aptly named. The scent is intoxicating. It’s so strong that with the faintest breeze, I can smell the blooms while dining on the courtyard. It’s heavenly!

Bordeaux

This heat-tolerant, disease-tolerant floribunda has deep, rich red blooms. It’s still pretty small but I’m not worried about its height. Oftentimes roses that focus on their roots in the first year (a better gardener than I would have cut all the buds so the shrubs could focus on the roots) take off in the second year. I love the true red color of this rose and I just love every Kordes rose that I’ve planted.

Elegant Lady

Such an elegant bleeding rose. Elegant Lady was the first rose I ever planted at my first house and sadly, it fell susceptible to black spot. You might be wondering why then I decided to give it another shot at my new house. First of all, I’m stubborn as an ox and I loved that rose. Second of all, I’m a better gardener now so I’m hoping my regular feedings with stave off black spot. We’ll see. Fingers crossed! Failures in the garden are not really failures. They’re just teaching you how to be a better gardener tomorrow. Remember that.

Moondance

Moondance is a trusty white rose. With so many dramatically colored roses in my garden, I actually think Moondance stands out amongst the gallery. It’s been hassle-free and an easy keeper thus far.

Tahitian Sunset

This has been one of the slower roses to grace me with its blooms. A single bud teased me for over a week before opening! This is such an interesting rose. Many roses have one color on the interior of the petal and another on the flip side. Others, bleeding roses, start out one color in center of the blooms and change color towards the outside of the bloom. Tahitian Sunset is stunning because it looks as if someone hand-painted every rose. There are streaks of red and coral painted on orange blooms. It brightens up the yard!

Dream Come True

This rose and my heart just belong together. I just can’t get enough of its fluffy pink and orange blooms! Every bloom is so well crafted and elegant. It’s been a huge producer this year, sending out waves of sunset-colored blooms from very early in the season through November.

Raised Bed Garden

Oh how I love winter vegetables! So far I’m growing spinach, Romaine lettuce, kale, beets, and brussels sprouts. I’ve never grown brussels sprouts before so this is a bit of an experiment for me. I’ll keep you posted! I also have a thriving herb garden with a mountain of Italian parsley, plus rosemary, oregano (which I could never keep alive at my old house!), and thyme.