new dawn

I had a dream last night that I woke up, checked my blog, and saw that I lost all my followers because I posted too many pictures of roses.

Jesse said, "That's not going to happen." And I thought, "It might," because here I am posting another one. Between you and me, I enjoy sharing these notes from the garden (notice the new header on the top of this blog?) but also, it's a great way for me to begin cataloguing my plants. I even started a Flickr account to help me make a photo index of the garden. I wish I had done this years ago, for all the various gardens I have had over the years.....it would be quite amazing to see the variety of plants I have grown (wish I still had them--sigh).

Back to the matter at hand: New Dawn. She's a beauty, isn't she? While Jesse and I were sorting through the garden pictures he said he was amazed that roses come in so many forms and varieties, something he never paid much attention to before. Yes, they do! I think that's one of the reasons I love them, too. Like people--they have such personality.

New Dawn has been grown in several of my gardens, with limited success. While being touted by many as a vigorous climber, I have found her to be quite the opposite. I never got a shrub to reach more than a few feet off the ground...even with all the necessary care she required.

Last summer, when we moved into our new home, I brought the New Dawn shrub I had growing at our home in Scranton with me. She was, quite literally, down to just one small, puny, cane; and I am not even sure why I felt like I should even try growing her here, but I did.

This summer, after a year of being in her new placement (south east facing wall of the house), she has put out a couple more canes, and has a few small buds. This flower is the first bloom of the season. Ever the optimist, I have high hopes for her this time around, as I think the warmer, more sheltered location is just what she needed to thrive.

It's promising to be a weekend full of gardening fun...we are going to work on building our edible garden and I will take pics to share with all of you. I hope you'll stick around! ;)