Oh, what a beautiful mornin’

Oh, what a beautiful mornin’,
0h, what a beautiful day,
0h, what a beautiful feelin’,
Roses are bloomin’ today!

Because of the musical background of my youth, I have a tendency to love show tunes from bygone eras. (Especially the ones I used to play back in high school with my oboe). The duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein was one of my favorite duos from the golden era of musicals during the 20th century. They were geniuses, expanding the bounds of creation, and I can remember playing many of their songs when I was younger.

Oklahoma! the musical

Oklahoma! was the first musical in which Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated. It is based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs, that was set in the Oklahoma Territory in 1906. In the story line of Oklahoma!, leading lady, Laurey Williams, is conflicted between two rival suitors – cowboy, Curly McLain, and farmhand, Jud Fry. Curley opens Oklahoma! by singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” and the song sets a power tone for the entire musical. The theatrical premiere of Oklahoma! was during World War II (1943). It received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944. While I never have seen it performed live on stage, I have seen the 1955 film version starring Gordon MacRae (Curley) and Shirley Jones (Laurey Williams). It was Shirley’s film debut, and she went on to star in many productions on screen, stage, and television. The musical, Oklahoma!, scores very high on my list of favorite musicals, and if you have not seen it, I would highly recommend taking the time to do so.

The first day of roses in bloom

Every year, I wait in anticipation throughout May as I watch the buds forming on the roses. I watch them as they swell and get larger and larger from teeny tiny buds no larger than a grain of rice. As they swell, the sepals crack open and recede downward revealing hints of the wonderful colors and fragrances lurking beneath. I know what’s coming. You do too! Every year I wait to see which rose will be the first to fully open up and join the world. No two years are ever alike in my garden, and every year a different rose has had the honor to be the first one to open up. I’ve had species roses, shrub roses, polyanthas, old garden roses, and even one year a grandiflora was first.

Last year was the first year that I had no roses open in May, as the first official rose to bloom was on June 6th. I thought that this year might be a repeat performance of last year, with the first rose opening in June, but lo and behold a few contenders came from seemingly nowhere to prove me wrong. I did, however, have to wait until May 29th before the first rose actually did open. The contenders this year were: a miniature seedling from a fellow hybridizer nicknamed “Orange Surprise,” Baronne Prévost, Highwire Flyer, and Mary Rose. I could see color cracking through on the buds on these roses a few days before they finally opened. While I am unsure which one actually was the first to open (all four opened up at some point during the day while I was at work), but what a delight when I came home to see them.

Declaring Baronne Prévost first!

I am a sucker for roses with great fragrance, and smelling Baronne Prévost in all of her glory makes her an extra special first day bloomer. In deference to the other roses that bloomed on May 29th, I’m declaring Baronne Prévost as the official first rose to open in 2020 in my garden. The day that I am writing this is June 9th, and since the first roses bloomed in my garden, quite a few other roses have bloomed as well. Grandma Bunny, Sweet Chariot, Rise ’n’ Shine, Top Gun, (Metis x unknown #2), ([Metis x unknown #2] x R. rugosa alba), R. rubrifolia, R. multiflora, Indago, R. rugosa alba, Scabrosa, Burgundian Rose, Eyes for You, Purple East, and Alika have all joined the ranks of roses that have bloomed.

There’s a first time to bloom for every rose

Among the roses blooming for the first time in my garden this year include five newly-germinated seedlings. One is a single with a pleasing shade of medium red, another one is a light yellow single, there are two pink/pink blend singles, and the fifth is an exhibition-style bicolor. I have waited two years for a runner that was given to me, Scabrosa, to bloom. This past week was the magical time for her to show her wares in my garden. The rosarian who shared her with me told me that she was a bee magnet, and with blooms this big, fragrance this intense, and stamens this prominent, I can see why. I can’t wait until I get her in the ground, fully mature, and let her show the world what she can do. Another rose, Purple East, has been in my garden for three years before she has gotten big enough to bloom. I started her from a cutting, and I’m looking forward to her getting her to size as well. Hopefully, she will give me the spectacular display that I know that she can give.

My special great-granddaughter seedlings

Speaking of newly-germinated seedlings – two of the seedlings I mentioned earlier that have already bloomed this year for the first time, are extra special to me. My rose, Hera’s Song, was used by Hera’s stepdad to create his rose, Dacia’s Dream. He gave me some open-pollenated hips at one of our society meetings last fall. If I didn’t take the hips, I do not know what he would have done with them? Who knows? He may have even thrown them out? These seedlings are granddaughters of my Hera’s Song, and I consider them my great-granddaughter seedlings.

Four of the seeds have germinated, and two have bloomed. Both are single roses, one is light yellow, and one is an orange-pink blend that literally glows. The orange-pink blend seedling has also already bloomed twice. Not too bad for something that was a nothing more than a seed back in February. Too bad that this seedling has only four petals, though. In time, I hope that she gains her fifth petal, but time will tell if she ever will. We’ll see how these seedlings mature. I have huge hopes for them, and, hopefully, they will continue on to their way to being good roses worthy of introduction.

I can see all of the roses that have bloomed this year in my mind, and even smell many of the more fragrant ones. Yes! The roses are here! They’re here to stay for the rest of the spring, through summer, and well into fall until the frosts come.

Oh, what a beautiful mornin’,
0h, what a beautiful day,
0h, what a beautiful feelin’,
Roses are bloomin’ today!

Epilogue

This story was originally composed with a purple-bodied Wearever pen fitted with a gold cap and a 14K nib. The pen is filled with Shaeffer purple ink. The pen came in a large lot of fountain pens I bought at a local antique shop, and only needed a cleaning and a new bladder to work. This is my first attempt at using an ink color other than black to write my blog. I don’t think that the ink was too distracting. The pen writes very smoothly, and I keep purple ink in it to use as a contrasting color to use when editing. The ink also reminds of one of my very good friends in roses affectionately known as the “Purple Rose Lady.” She shared Purple East, Perennial Blue (and other roses) with me, and hopefully they will look as good in my garden as they do in hers.