Maybe you don’t already know this…but roses are my favourite flower. Not the sterile and perfect ones that you buy at the florist, perfect in every way and nearly without scent. I love garden roses, and their astounding beauty combined with their heavenly fragrance make them the queens of the garden, in my opinion.
I have never been able to grow roses before, as they also happen to be the deer’s favourite flower. When we lived in Nanaimo, we had no way of keeping animals away so I didn’t even try to grow them. Now that we have several deer fenced areas, I am free to experiment with flowers of all kinds, and I add at least one rose to the garden each year.
Last year I planted Autumn Sunset by Weeks Roses. It bloomed in June with two or three perfect flowers, and I was thrilled. This year, though, it has completely taken off, and the 6 foot canes are crowned with dozens of blooms! It’s difficult to describe the colour of these roses, as they begin as a fiery bud of orange streaked with flame.
As they open, however, the flame colour remains on the outside of the first petals, and the bloom reveals itself to be a deep apricot colour that mellows to a golden peach as it matures. It’s a large flower and heavily scented with a deep fruity perfume that intensifies in the warmth of the afternoon. Classic rose.
As the petals of this rose are very large and the blossoms are very plentiful, I am experimenting this season with collecting the petals before they wither and fall…to make a delicate rose petal jelly.
Can you imagine anything nicer? I can’t.
