Everyone knows I love roses.

One of the best parts of being a serious rose gardener is sharing the bounty of beautiful blossoms with others. I used to work in the Operating Room of a large municipal hospital at the front desk. The OR was a very interesting place to work. There was always something exciting happening and the stress level on a normal day was about a 7.

Roses as Stress Relief

The good thing about it was that the day usually just evaporated because we were so busy. But, the fact remained that the tension could be electric and the patients riding by on stretchers with their anesthesiologist walking beside them probably could think of a dozen places they’d rather be than on their way to an operating room.

I saw that as an opportunity to bring my roses from home to display for all to see and hopefully reduce the stress level a tad.

Guess what? The roses did make everyone happy and gave everyone something positive to think about.

Some of my grandchildren like to help in the garden. When Cody, now almost 23, was little, he liked to follow me around the garden while I was deadheading. One day, he peered into my five gallon joint compound bucket that was full of stems and spent roses. He asked me what I was going to do with the stuff in the bucket. When I told him I was going to dump it in the trash bucket, his eyes got as big as saucers and he said, ‘You mean that’s GARBAGE, Grammy? Our garbage doesn’t look like that… you have BEAUTIFUL garbage!’

Christian, now almost 14, has been helping in the garden since he could walk. I have clear memories of him in his NY Yankees shirt and shorts, a watering can supported by both his hands, as he carefully watered the border. He took great care to water the soil and not the leaves. Over the years, he has learned how to prune, fertilize, deadhead, and apply mulch. He knows how to edge the beds, too. Last week when school got out, he was here for two days. We’d had some rain so there were petals on the ground and deadheads to remove. He pitched right in and we got a lot done in those two days! He then borrowed my camera and took a bunch of really great photos. He’s pictured above in the Overlook Garden.

Rose Garden Tours

It was great having Chris’ help because part of my rose sharing happens right here every June. I travel around a lot, speaking to garden clubs and libraries about–you guessed it–roses. After my program, I always offer a tour of my gardens at home to the group. They get to pick the day in June, bring a picnic lunch, and after traversing about the gardens and getting all their questions answered, they have lunch at the tables on the south lawn in the cool, dense shade of our big old maples.

This is always a joyous occasion for me because this gorgeous first flush is just too beautiful to keep to myself!

Last week, I had the ladies from the West Avon Garden Club, and they were a hoot. We had a wonderful time. Today’s visitors were from the Glastonbury Garden Club, and tomorrow I am expecting the Bristol Garden Club.

Roses make friendship easy, and I hope the folks in these Rose Caravans to my gardens bring home with them a spirit of joy and a desire to plant some roses of their own. My love and thanks to Christian for his help and to the visitors who take the time to smell the roses.