Old Fashioned Rose

     The Studio Garden continues to lure me out of the knitting nest.  This week I've become curious about my favorite "old fashioned" rose.  I "rustled" this one  (with permission) from the back yard of another 100 year old house in our neighborhood.  I wonder if she's got a name?

 

     She is a wild thing, with fluffy, unkempt blossoms and a love for sending up shoots where ever she can.  And she's not a thornless beauty either.  We've enjoyed the blossoms almost all summer for 30 years now, though June is the month that she really loves to bloom.  I give her some epsom salt early each spring as I was taught to do by another rose lover.  The magnesium in epsom salt boosts both the leaves and the number of blooms.  Works beautifully for me at a cup per plant worked gently into the dirt around the base and watered in well.

 

     The most amazing thing about this bush rose is the fragrance, a heady, rich scent that is the epitome of summer in my mind.  It was the fragrance that convinced me to add this rather invasive plant to my tiny garden.  I discovered last year that the scent lingers in the petals and is even more pronounced after they are dried.  So I've begun to collect the petals from the blown roses.  This bush produces flowers that last just one day, going from a lovely bud to the full blown glory in a few hours.  There are lots of still-fragrant petals to collect each morning as soon as the dew has dried.  It has become a favorite ritual of these spring days, visiting with my old rosey friend and collecting her essence to enjoy while she sleeps it off this winter.

 

      My berry washing bowl with the holes in it works perfectly to dry the petals.  And the smell is wonderful, filling the house with roses.  What a gift this little bush is!  The garden Faeries must love her too as I often catch a glimpse of movement in her leaves even on the most still of mornings.  Well I like to think it's the Faeries anyway.  Whimsey does feed the soul.

      I know lots of you are rose fans.  Any idea what variety this rose might be?  Does she have a name?  Or is she just one of the lovely unnamed joys of summer?  I'd really love to know.

     Today I think I'll pull up a chair and go knit in the garden.