Floral Cheerleaders: Crushing The Rose Game

Eden climber 

I just had a woman shout out praise at me like I was a tennis pro. She and her husband (early 30s) were on a walk, I was in the front yard and she shouted,

“The roses are blooming!

I wait for them every year.

You are crushing the rose game!”

David Austin, Lady of Shalott

Can you imagine how good I felt? To hear that someone else anticipates my roses blooming. And that they wanted to encourage me with praise like crushing it.

I've always considered myself a floral cheerleader, but I've never had one for myself. It feels amazing.

        Star Rose, Passionate Kisses

Are you a floral cheerleader?

Summer Colors in October in the Pacific Northwest

This is why I can't buy mums. I mean, I buy mums but they are for my mom's patio. At my house, east of Seattle, it is October 21 and the roses and sweet peas are still producing bloom after bloom. We haven't had a freeze. The deer are being reasonable (for now). And I have more pink, yellow and dayglo pink buds coming. It's glorious, but it is not a Fall palette. Mums would look dumb. 

My sideboard, however, looks amazing with sweet peas and roses afire in a Target Magnolia Hearth & Home propagation vase. Fall is Relative.

#fallpalette #summercolors #propagationvase #chemistrytubevase

Growing Roses in Containers: Delight in the Pacific Northwest

My friend and mentor, Mary-Kate Mackey wrote a wonderful piece for Hartley Botanic Greenhouses about the success I am having growing roses in containers. I have lived east of Seattle almost 5 years and I have 10 roses flourishing in pots. 

My former zone (southeastern Michigan 6a) wouldn't support roses in containers, unless I had had one of Hartley Botanic's beautiful greenhouses, so I was thrilled when I had the chance to try it here. In this photo you can see (front to back), State of Grace, Royal Amethyst, a hydrangea in the ground, Tournament of Roses and Passionate Kisses. They make a lovely border to my suburban yard and I think it is wonderful.

Please read this article about my garden and maybe you'll be inspired to give container roses a try!

https://hartley-botanic.com/magazine/grow-fabulous-roses-containers-anne-reeves-shares-secrets/

#roses #growingroses #containergardening #containergarden #momentsofdelight #beautyofeverydaylife #finddelight #pnw #seattle 

12 Days of Valentine's Day starts today!

I think you should have fun for 12 days straight. I know, we don't always look at things that way, but that is the beauty of celebrating the "12 Days of Valentine's Day". You decide what fun little thing you want to do each day in honor of Valentine's Day and the people that you love in your life.

Celebrating the 12 Days of Valentine's Day helps make lovely gestures a habit. It's a time when you do little things to show love for family, friends and yourself. Wear a pink sweater one day, put red food coloring in your cake batter, set the table with red place mats - everything counts when you are celebrating the fact that you love a lot of people.

There is no set schedule. There isn't a "number" relationship between the days (meaning you don't have to sneak 10 Hershey kisses into a loved one's pocket just because it is Day 10).  Nope, you just do what feels right and fits into your schedule on any particular day leading up to Valentine's Day.  

When someone compliments your pink scarf, just smile and say that its in honor of the 12 Days of Valentine's Day.  If your neighbor questions your sudden gift of 6 muffins, tell her it's The 12 Days of Valentine's Day.  Have fun with it. And let me know how your coworkers and friends respond.

My suggestion for today is order a rose bush for your garden. You will never regret the day-after-day beauty you will enjoy this summer.

#12daysofvalentinesday #valentinesday #celebratelove #beautyofeverydaylife #momentsofdelight #finddelight #valentine #bemyvalentine #bemine

Finding Delight: Highlighting Unusual Vases

Not everyone chooses their favorite fruit company because of the packaging, but I do! I simply can't resist Oregon Specialty Fruit and their black cans.

Yes, their produce is lovely but look how fantastic their cans look as vases! Upcycling extraordinaire. I have slipped a small container for water inside the can to stabilize the flowers. 

I have this bouquet by my kitchen sink and it makes me very happy. This is delight!

#oregon #findingdelight #upcycling 

Portland: Rose Test Garden is a Must See in Summer

I found delight in Portland. I visited the International Rose Test Garden. I know, why haven't I been there before? Clearly I had no idea what I was missing.
I had only been in the garden for a minute when I lost my cool and started taking selfies with the rose bushes taller than me. 

A beauty - full and fragrant!

I recommend that you follow this link and watch a segment about the 
International Test Garden that was broadcast on the PBS television show Oregon Field Guide. The video films the 10,000 rose garden at peak bloom in 2014. The segment interviews Harry Landers, the man in charge of this living masterpiece.

Can you see the happy bee in the photograph above? Buzz buzz...I know that I should have noted which rose I was photographing, but frankly I was having too much fun to be practical. 

 

These photos were taken on July 3, 2016 and the garden was in full bloom. I haven't seen anything like it since I was at David Austin Rose headquarters in England.

I kept coming back to this regal beauty called Frances Meilland. The soft pink center fades to a candlelight white.

This rose garden has many levels and sections. You can't get through it quickly, nor would you want to. Set aside a good hour to wander and enjoy. This time well spent.

Small But Mighty: The Charm of a Teacup Bouquet

With a sudden chill in the air in Michigan, everyone's garden is winding down. Don't forget that you can still coax a few bouquets out of the garden, you just have to think smaller. 

I selected this antique teacup from china hutch. This was my maternal grandmother's and the cup and saucer are candlelight white with lace detail. I only needed a few small roses from the garden to make a lovely teacup bouquet for the front table. It may be small, but it has big impact.

Have you ever made a tiny flower arrangement? I bet your grandmother would approve of a teacup bouquet.

Spoiled by Mother Nature: My Birthday Bouquet

She did it again. I've being spoiled by Mother Nature, who came up with these beautiful flowers just in time for my birthday. 

Daybreaker roses, David Austin Abraham Darby roses, Bill Warriner roses, coral verbena, fresh mint arranged in a Lychee can from the Asian market in Seattle.

Milk Bottle bouquet

Okay, they are very small milk bottles, but the idea is the same. Identical glass bottles in a wire basket are a wonderful jumping off point for a casual flower arrangement. My mom found this set at Pottery Barn a few years ago and we keep it full of flowers all summer.

The narrow opening of the bottles help to keep blooms upright and clustered together. Flowers can't help but look beautiful: this grouping is made of roses, lacecap hydrangeas, lupine and lavender. 

If you have blooms in your yard, cut some and make your own beautiful cluster. You'll love it every time you see it.

My Garden of Eden (Climbers)

You know that I have been on-the-go this year and I was unsure how my roses would fare without my constant attention.

Yep, they're fine.  

Just look at this magnificent swath of Eden climbers that I found blooming as I found them when I got home.  Love love love. Yes, roses need to be watered from the ground (don't let their leaves get wet from a sprinkler) and fertilizer and bug spray is important. But boy oh boy, how could anything seem like too much work when the results are like this.

May you remember to stop and smell the roses.

Portland: A Private Garden Walk

Did you know that Portland, Oregon is known as the "City of Roses?"  When I found out we would be able to sneak away to Portland one weekend and visit Dan's cousin, my first thought was "food trucks" and "farmer's markets."

Then I was at a social gathering going on and on about:

• Spring coming
• caring for orchids
• pruning roses

You know, basic bar night chatter. One of the girls said that I sounded like her parents and all their garden talk. She said that they have a huge garden with a collection of clematis, roses, fruit trees and vegetables on the Tualatin River.

She said that if we had time, we were welcome to visit them when we went to Portland. How fun!  It turns out that their collection of clematis includes more than 300 plants!

I started looking into Portland and found out that it is known as the City of Roses.  I just missed the annual Portland Rose Festival by one week - I would have loved to see the annual rose show! When we drove around the neighborhoods of the city, I noticed large healthy hybrid tea roses blooming hearts out.  What a great city.

We arrived at their address and wow! It is a gardener's paradise. When we visited, so much was in bloom!  

First I'll show you some of the clematis...

My favorite story was that they have both the Princes Charles and Princess Diana clematis (I think this is Princess Diana clematis, below) but they keep them far apart in the garden. Good thinking.

I wish I was able to note which clematis was which as I was taking pictures, to help you with the names, but alas, we'll just have to enjoy them and play 'match game" on Google if we want to find one for our own garden. This lilac blue clematis with the smaller center petals stacked on top was my favorite.

It was fun to see so many different types of clematis wafting in the breeze; thriving in this beautiful landscape.  I heard that several garden magazines beat me to it and have already featured this very garden! You can see why.

The clematis blooms had quite a range of different petal sizes and were in shades from white and pink to lavender and deep blue. Some had wide petals and fluffy stamens and others blooms were small and wispy. What a collection!

In addition to vines, there were some pale raspberry foxglove (below),

and oriental poppies in unusual shades,

and fringed double poppies,

 And the large but paper thin, lacecap hydrangeas. 

I am grateful that these new friends of ours, shared their time and knowledge with us. I could have stayed a week and been perfectly happy weeding and having my way with garden gloves and a clipper. Imagine when the fruit trees are producing!

And imagine being able to eat fresh figs whenever you want!

Oh the arrangements I could make.  And on that note, I'll leave you with one last photograph.  The bouquet of fresh Sweet Pea that they presented to us as a gift.  Gardeners are kindred spirits and I made sure to have a set of my photos printed and mailed (along with a photo disc) to their house as a thank you.

We left their house, stopped at Fabric Depot for a few essentials and then drove north back to Seattle. These delicate Sweet Peas brightened up our hotel room and looked beautiful on the kitchen table for the rest of the week. 

(Sigh) I love this time of year, no wonder I was talking about Spring so much.

David Austin Rose: Magnificent to Behold

O

You are welcome to make this your screen saver.  A pristine David Austin English Rose, blooming with a touch of blue hydrangea makes the shell pink look even prettier.

In April, I made a new friend in Seattle and when a group of us went out to dinner, I apparently mentioned flowers and gardening one too many times. She said "You sound like my parents. You should see their garden in Portland." When I said that I'd love to, she told me even more about them. They are Master Gardeners and have over 300 clematis in their private garden haven on the Tualatin River.  I couldn't wait to visit! 

We were given a private tour of their garden during the second weekend in June.  And, just my luck, the clematis were blooming! I'll tell you more about our visit after the 4th of July holiday.  It was slightly misty that day and you won't believe how well my pictures came out. 

For tonight, I leave you with my favorite type of rose, a David Austin. This image was so lovely, I wanted to post it alone, to give it the attention it deserves. 

Waiting for Eden: A Gardener Thinks of Spring

Did you know that you only need to tend one rose bush to be considered a rosarian?  Not that I would advocate stopping at just one.  The more the merrier in my garden.  And since roses require special care:

• do not allow water to hit the leaves (as with a sprinkler system) - water from the ground with a soaker hose
• plant roses with enough space to allow plenty of air circulation
• be vigilant in removing yellow or dead leaves
• spray with a recommended fungicide and treatment to prevent black spot/bugs
• love them with all of your heart

I know that all that work seems like a pain in the neck, but I assure you that the bounty outweighs any burden.  I can cut a bouquet any time I want to and I love it.

This particular beauty is an Eden Climber.  A soft white climbing rose with a pink center that I know you will love.

Any day now, the garden catalogs will start arriving in the mail.  As you dream of this year's improvements (I personally want to add Bellflower, Zinnias and more Peonies to my garden) consider adding an Eden Climber.

Movie Star Qualities: Eden Climber Rose

Do any of your roses have movie star qualities?  I'm convinced that an Eden Climber can't take a bad photograph.  The quiet and demure photo above was taken on my patio last month. I liken this photo to a black and white portrait of a movie star in her silk dressing gown, sitting at her vanity full of perfume bottles.

This red carpet look was taken in July in northern Michigan at my parent's cottage.  A different plant, a different plant hardiness zone, but thriving just the same.  I think of this photo as one of "a star and her entourage."

If you love roses and have a wall or fence for support, you really need to add this stunner to your collection.  Then stick around for some camera-ready moments all summer long.

Casual Flower Arrangements: Roses and Snapdragons in Juice Can Bouquet

It has been a challenge this summer; I have been out of town so much that I've hardly given my rose garden the attention that it deserves.  I have nineteen roses planted in a bed around my patio and while I tend them daily in March/April/May, it feels like they hardly see me June/July/August.  I pop home, for a week at a time, but it isn't nearly enough.

On the flip side, I've become an even better at traveling with flowers!  This particular bouquet of roses and snapdragons in an ALOHA juice can made it through the 5 hour car ride like it was nothing at all.  I slip a sandwich baggie over the top of the bouquet to keep it safe (and to limit the allergen exposure for my husband).

Do you love the vase?  I will be selling bejeweled versions in my Etsy store next week. Stay tuned!

My Blog About Finding Delight

I thought today would be a good day to explain my philosophy of delight.  I just surpassed 1,800 blog posts and the accomplishment has brought out some great questions.  

Why do you blog?

I love being able to share my photos, thoughts and ideas. I strive to write reliable and informative content full of delightful images, ideas and recommendations.  I post five days a week, with one of my original photographs accompanying each post.  An executive once told me that success comes from passion and persistence.  I think my passion for things that delight (flowers, ice cream, entertaining, crafts, collecting, travel) can be recognized within each post.  I show my persistence by posting day-after-day, year-after-year, with the hope that my words and images will bring delight to someone at just the right moment.  I have over 10,000 people visit my blog each month, so I have a hunch I am on the right track.  I published my 3 books so that my readers could have a physical collection of my photos and suggestions to read and show their friends.  

How do I decide what I am going to write about?

I believe that "finding delight in everyday life" means looking for delight in a variety of places.  Accept an invitation to a jazz concert, order an unusual dessert, experiment with color in your sheets and pillowcases, grow herbs, try painting.  Can you see what I'm getting at?  You don't have to specialize in just growing bonsai trees or collecting stamps.  Dabble in a variety of things and see what speaks to you.  

As a result, each day in my blog is a surprise.  Sometimes you will get a recipe. Other days an anecdote.  And when I am traveling, I called it a "City Series" and I write a string of posts.  You can "come along" on my trip and see the shops, sweets and treats I found.  I label each post with the city or region, so that later you can go to the sidebar of the blog, find the "City Series" section and click "Atlanta" and read all of my posts from Atlanta.  At the absolute bottom of the blog (scroll down) you can see my other labels: "accessories", "Jell-O", "hydrangeas" - you name it! Click the topic you are interested in and all of the posts in that topic will appear on one page.  

How do I find my way around your blog? I don't understand what a blog is.

A blog is just like a webpage.  It has an address (www.MomentsOfDelight.com) and you can visit it any time you want.  The most recent blog post appears at the top.  You can look in the sidebar and see links to visit my "Moments of Delight" Facebook page, Twitter account, Pinterest boards and Etsy store.  You can also use the SEARCH box to look for a particular post.  Click around and see what you can find.  You can't hurt anything, click away!  

If you want a reminder to read my blog, you can locate the "Follow Blog By Email" box in the sidebar of my blog and enter your email address.  Each new blog post will be emailed to you.

What rose is that?
This magnificent rose is called "Abraham Darby" by David Austin.  You see it here, blooming in my rose garden in southeastern Michigan.

Ribbon Based Flower Arranging

This ribbon and I have been waiting through three seasons for this moment. My Honey Dijon rose is blooming again and the plant is producing bouquets worth of blooms.  Up to this point, I have only been getting single buds, which I have happily tucked into larger arrangements, but now she is hitting her stride and I am getting great bundles of roses at once.  

Remember my (now internet famous) photo of a sweep of Honey Dijon roses?  You can't look for a Honey Dijon online without coming across my picture.  I am very proud of that, someone has to show the world delight, right?

Today's post is to remind you that sometimes your actions can be ribbon-driven. I had a lovely and unusual rose and I sought out ribbon that would make it sing. Now my beautiful 1/2 yard helps me make the most of this rose and it is just as important as a great throw pillow or good lighting.  Design is everywhere and this is an example of how having a master plan in your life can help you find the beauty of everyday moments.

This is my living room on a Thursday morning.  It makes me feel as good as it looks.  

Bridal Bouquet

I arrived at the cottage like a bride carrying this bouquet. Can you stand it?  It is all very appropriate too, because this week is our 21st wedding anniversary.  

This year, for the first time ever, my two Eden climbers are blooming like crazy. They are covered with clusters of 5 blooms.  I decided that I couldn't leave them behind, so I cut off bunch after bunch and layered them on top of each other and the result was this perfectly round, solid bouquet of pink-tipped roses.  I wrapped the stems tightly with floral tape, gave the bottom a fresh cut and dropped them in this water-filled jar that I had covered in pastel Anna Griffin paper tape.  Although it may be hard to tell, there are at least 40 roses in this bouquet.  Swoon.  Happy anniversary to me indeed.

#annagriffin #roses

Rose Garden Tour by Anne Reeves

I can finally take you on a garden walk!  It is June 16, 2013, my roses are in full bloom and I made a short video to show you each variety, what it is named and what it looks like.  May this private tour bring you a moment of delight. Enjoy!

The roses currently blooming in my garden are: (in order shown)

Honey Dijon by Weeks Roses
Graham Thomas by David Austin
Lillian Austin by David Austin
Paul McCartney 
Veterans Honor
Royal Amethyst
(antique magenta pink)
Abraham Darby by David Austin
Eden (climber)
Bill Warriner 
Koko Loco
Brandy 
Heritage by David Austin
Abraham Darby by David Austin

Meditation Garden

If you need me, I'll be in the garden.  This is my favorite time of year.  June usually has cooler mornings and temperatures in the 70's during the day.  I can do my gardening in the morning and freshen things up for enjoying the patio the rest of the day.

This "floral portrait" is the Abraham Darby English rose by David Austin. 

Each morning that I am home, I deadhead the roses, violas and geraniums.  I water the pots (mixed flowers, herbs, pepper plants, tomatoes) with a hose.  I cut all of the flowers that I want to make into bouquets.  Then I put on gloves and spray any buds/plants that show signs of disease or bugs with Orthonex.  Please note that I cut the flowers first, because I don't want to interact with any plants with bug spray on them.  I fertilize when necessary (I'm about to put down my "June" application of Rose Tone).  And then I sweep the patio to clean things up.  

A lot of tasks, I know, but it is oh so worth it.  I like Martha Stewart's explanation. She says that she doesn't think of it as "working in the garden" or having a list of "garden work" that must be done. To her (and me) it is simply the act of gardening and we love it. I don't play music.  I'm not on the phone.  I am in the garden - thinking and relaxing in my own space.  For me, that is meditation. 

I think any garden you can take care of is a "Meditation Garden," don't you?