It is just amazing to me that we have slipped over the hump and reached the end of the growing season. All summer long, unless I cut a few for friends or the house, I leave my rose blooms on the plants because the gardens are just beautiful.  Now, the plants are tired after performing so well all summer long.  Yesterday we were hit by an incoming cold front.  It was very windy and threatening to rain really hard. In the morning, I went outside with a large pitcher full of water and a sharp set of pruners.  I cut a huge bouquet and brought all the lovelies inside to grace the house.  This morning, I got up to a fragrant home and almost 5” of rain in the rain gauge…our moderate drought is gone!

I wound up with three large bouquets. The dining room table always gets one, and so does the dining room ledge near my rose window.  The last bouquet, in a pink satin glass antique vase, is sitting on the family table in the front hall.  I took a look at the roses reflected in the mirror, saw the family pictures and the purple tin containing Rahjah’s ashes, and started thinking back over this growing season.

Check your roses

After a couple years of severe drought in Connecticut, we had ample rain this summer until October gave us a 3” deficit. I have spent the last couple of weeks watering a lot!  But, for most of the summer we had plenty of showers from the heavens and that freed up some of my time in the rose gardens.  I grow about 300 roses of all kinds and I still believe in watering them by hand with a long-handled watering wand.  This gives me a really intimate relationship with all my rose bushes, which I love.

I don’t usually have many problems with my gardens. However, I found two cases of Rose Rosette Virus in my gardens this year.  The first was in my Rose Forest Garden on a lovely rose called ‘Macy’s Pride.’  The second was on ‘Pretty Lady Rose’ in the beginning of October.  Because I know that I have had RRV in my gardens and before that I had spotted it on the wild roses by Windsor’s Walking Trail, I spray my rose bushes and rotate between two different miticides (Forbid and Floramite).

RRV is vectored by a tiny mite that carries the disease in its mouthparts. I really want to get these little buggers!  The reason I use these two products is that they eradicate the adults, nymphs, and eggs.  During the growing season, I spray every two weeks.  Connecticut Rose Society just hosted Dr. Mark Windham, Plant Pathologist Extraordinaire from the University of Tennessee.  Mark is working on the RRV problem and is a fabulous speaker.  I asked him how long it takes for symptoms to show on a rose after infection, and he said anywhere from a couple of weeks to three years!!  Yet another reason to visit your rose gardens daily, so in case you find something suspicious you can catch it early on!

Share Your Roses

Early in June, I lost my beloved cat, Rahjah, to kidney failure. A couple weeks later, we adopted a mother cat with two week old kittens, a male and a female.  Because their birthday is so close to Flag Day, we named them Betsy and Ross.  We named the mother Junie because she came to us in June.  Early summer was full of garden tours here, and many of the garden visitors came inside to meet the babies.

I love to have people visit my gardens because it’s so beautiful I just can’t stand not sharing!  Two big events happened in July. Our garden was on Windsor’s Garden Tour and the next day was CT Rose Society’s annual Wine and Roses party.  138 souls toured our gardens on the garden tour and many members attended the CRS event which honored the upcoming 90^th birthday of longtime members Jim and Claranne Parker.  Everyone had a great time at both events, including us!

August brought more folks visiting the gardens, anniversaries and birthdays and family time. September brought us to Cape Cod where we were visited by dear rose family. I can think of many wonderful reasons for growing roses. The best to me is the folks we get close to on the rose trail!  Reflecting back, this was a wonderful growing season, and soon our winter’s rest will arrive.