Tuesday, July 14, 2009

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL


I suppose one can be too rich or too thin. These are not my areas of expertise. One thing I know for sure is that one can never have too many roses. As I have made abundantly clear in previous posts, my preference is for the French roses of the Victorian era. That is not to say that I am indifferent to all other roses. The coral and yellow roses that blend so well with the blue of delphinium, geranium, lavender and perovskia and are somewhat rare among the older varieties. I am particular fond of Alchymist, but it blooms much too early in my garden and since it is not remontant, there is no hope of matching it with my favorite blue perennials.
Modern miniature roses provide the perfect solution for my problem. They are sturdy, unfussy and they bloom almost non-stop. Their range of color is extraordinary. It includes wild red and yellow and red and white combination that would be intolerably ugly in larger roses. Most are unscented, but geneticists are hard at work to change that. Scentsational roses are said to be intensely fragrant, something I cannot confirm since my own mauve Scentsational became the rare casualty among the many mini roses I have grown throughout three decades.
At the moment I have approximately three dozen minis--a gift from a good friend--waiting to be potted. Ideally, I would place them in containers that can be brought indoors for the winter. Exiguous space and the objectionable behavior of two feline hooligans preclude that option. I will just have to find the best way to prep them for our erratic winter.

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