Pad – check
Pen – check
A couple of spare hours to pen a couple of hundred words – check
Time to start writing . . .

Thanksgiving Day at the Vanable Household

Thanksgiving morning in the Vanable household means a turkey in the oven, vegetables to prepare, and relatives over for dinner. But, as much of 2020 has been an atypical year, things are different. 2020 will be the first year since the year that my daughter was born (1993), that she won’t be having dinner with the rest of the family. She has “left the nest” and has a “new” family that she and her boyfriend will be preparing dinner for and spending Thanksgiving Day with. 2020 and all of it’s social-distancing mandates also aren’t allowing us to have my mother over as well.

Zoom meetings and phone calls will have to fill in for now, until the newly announced vaccines are approved and widely available. 2020 will be the first year that we won’t have to expand the kitchen table for dinner, but will instead have an empty chair there instead. I know that the Vanable household is by no means alone by having these empty chairs, as this pandemic that we find ourselves in spikes daily to new highs in new cases and deaths recorded.

November and its Holidays

While the month of November has its share of remembrances of our veterans and their sacrifices to keep us free, it also has Thanksgiving to allow us to remember all who have had positive impacts on our lives. Yes, we get two holidays and a four-day weekend to celebrate and remember these people. Yes, it’s a time to get a few days away from the hustle and bustle of our daily work routines. And, yes, it’s a great time to close our gardens before we get back to our work routines until the end of December. It’s a time to enjoy the last of warmer fall temperatures before winter sets in.

A New Direction for Today’s Blog

The direction I was originally planning to take this month’s blog was listing procedures on how to close your garden for the winter. I even filmed a video for the New England Rose Society to present on how to do it, and was taking notes to duplicate these procedures here. But, as there are a plethora of articles already detailing these procedures, I thought that I’d go in a different direction as only a hybridizer can. I hope you enjoy today’s blog, and if you do indeed need advise on the procedures for preparing your rose garden for the winter, the answer is yes. This is the time of the year to do it, and you should look online for articles on how to do it or contact one of your local ARS consulting rosarians for additional help.

This blog is the first in two blogs about my roses and this year’s holiday season. This season is usually the time when many of us get together to celebrate and to remember our loved ones that are no longer with us. The empty chairs mean a lot to us this year. I’d like to share some of the stories behind my roses’ names and the empty chairs that accompany them.

Roses that I Have Introduced and the Empty Chairs that Accompany them

In looking at the names of the roses that I introduced, I realize that all of them I named for people, who had some significance in my life. Half of them are named for people who are deceased. Half are named in honour of somebody who is living. There’s no way that a hybridizer can ever rank their rose “babies.” They all are special to us, so I’ll go in alphabetical order. Ironically, three people who I wanted to honour by naming a rose for them, chose to honour someone else. It takes a special kind of person to do this, and I am only happy to oblige.

Baby Cakes

Baby Cakes – We haven’t introduced Baby Cakes yet, but we are close! We’re working on getting the rose multiplied and in enough gardens to insure that it won’t become extinct. Hopefully, soon, many people enjoy this rose. Baby Cakes is fragrant, hardy, healthy, and has large clusters of blooms.

Baby Cakes is a term that my wife uses to describe those that are important to her. At times, I am Baby Cakes, and at times, I am something quite different. She uses it as a compliment for her close friends, sometimes she uses it for people that she barely knows, and, more often than not, when she calls out for our son (and our daughter). This is her way of expressing her love for our children in a way that only a mother can. When I decided to introduce Baby Cakes (TY – J.B.N.) I decided to use the name as a not-so-secretly way to thank my wife for being good to me through the 30+ years we have been together, and by giving me much love and a home that is truly a home, and not a just a house to live in.

Baby Cakes is also is named to honour the two children that we have together, and how great and wonderful people that they have become. The empty chairs are always there for you, our Baby Cakes, wherever your lives may take you. You are always welcome to fill them any time you want to (or need to).

Carla Beth

Carla Beth – Carla Beth is another rose that is close to introduction, but not quite there. We’re working on getting her ready, but she is just not there yet. Hopefully, that will come soon, and she can be grown by all who would like to.

I can’t even imagine losing one of my children so early in life. The toll that it must take on Carla’s family must be heartbreaking. Carla was taken from them just as she was entering the prime of her life. So beautiful . . . so full of life . . . so much to give back that she never was able to . . . her impact while alive was so strong that when I offered the honour of naming a rose for her aunt, her aunt selflessly asked to name the rose in her niece’s memory. The story behind Carla and having her taken from us at such a young age is heart wrenching. When we officially introduce Carla Beth to the rose-growing community, I will publish my as-yet unfinished story about her.

While I do not currently grow Carla Beth in my garden, we took extra special steps this year to get her growing in more gardens. All of the members of Carla’s family each have an empty chair waiting for her, that will never be filled. But, she is there with you, if only in your memories of the beautiful girl that was taken away from you way too soon.

Donna Fuss

Donna Fuss – Donna was quite an amazing woman when she was alive. She was one of those special people in the rose-growing world that went above and beyond to all of the people who embraced the rose. It didn’t matter if you were a beginner, or someone who was just starting to spread their wings in this great hobby, or a seasoned judge with countless trophies for exhibiting at the highest levels. She was a true teacher and someone always willing to give and sacrifice for others. She was instrumental in the early stages and subsequent years of the Connecticut Rose Society and what the Society has done for its members for decades.

Also, she successfully helped to lead the demonstration against the City of Hartford with the destruction of Elizabeth Park was imminent. She helped get Elizabeth Park from the state of near destruction to where it is today. She, along with her husband, Mike, helped to get this blog started and off the ground during its infancy, and be part of the important teachings to the rose-growing community for the many years that it has been around. The world is a much better place to have had Donna in it. The many who loved her miss her. There’s an empty chair waiting for Donna with her family and closest friends. They know that she will never be able to use it, but she will forever be in their hearts and minds. Donna’s accomplishments in her lifetime continue to enrich us all, and will do so for many years to come.

Empty Pockets

Empty Pockets – I met my wife through her father (and her father’s salvage yard). Her father owned the yard and had developed leukemia while I was working for him. We both watched as this strong, virile man lose his battle to this dreaded disease a few months after we married. My wife tells me that he loved the holidays, being with his family, and, in particular, Christmas. He was a larger-than-life character who was taken from us way too early. Too many Thanksgivings and Christmases have been shared without his infectious smile beaming back at us.

While he gave me one of his most precious gifts in his life, his daughter, Susan, he gave me so much more as well. My children and their cousins never got to meet him, and that is too bad. What a character he was. He would be so proud of them, and the great people that they have become. The empty chair that we have for him is quite old, and never used. We think about him early and often, and what he missed in life.

George Oliva

George Oliva – George Oliva was the father of one of my very good friends in roses. She named it in memory of her father, and I have a picture of the rose that she made for me a couple of years ago on my desk. Every time I see it, I think of her and her father. Her email address starts with “fun . . . ,” and she is a hoot. I had many, many, fond memories with her. After things return to some semblance of “normalcy,” I expect many more to follow. I wrote a story behind the naming of George Oliva that can be found on HelpMeFind.

I’m not sure how she was ever able to cope with losing her father at such a young age and everything else that went on in her life, but I’m happy that I am able to be a part of it (even if only a small part). She is a rising star in the world of roses, and the driving force behind two of the roses that I have introduced. Where would I be without you? There’s been an empty chair waiting for George for over 50 years at her home. Way too long to be unused, but the impact he made in life can still be felt in her family and well beyond all these years later.

Grandma Bunny

Grandma Bunny – What can I say that hasn’t already been said in my Mothers Day blog about my mother? Not seeing her in person and having an empty chair for her can be very disappointing. But, we know that it is for the best for all during these trying times. These are the chairs that are the hardest to comprehend why they can’t be used. My dad is not there for her anymore either. While I don’t have a rose named for him (yet), we have a chair waiting for him as well this holiday season. We know that this chair will be empty for many years to come, but wish it wasn’t so.

This is the end of part one of my holiday version of my blog about the names of the roses and the empty chairs that accompany them. Part two will be coming along soon. The roses that I have introduced are all very special to me, and the stories behind their names are just as special. Now, I hope that some can be special to you as well.

Epilogue

Happy holidays to everyone. 2020 never is at a loss for being interesting and different, and November has had its share of that. This year’s election was one of the most heavily attended elections. The outcome was not known until well into November before a new President was determined. This is not the first time I have seen this (I was around and remember the 2000 election Bush vs. Gore very well). The election and its results have continued to divide the country now even more than before. President-Elect Joe Biden will become our next president on January 20th. May he be able to unite us and return America to be the once great and unified country we once were.

I originally composed this blog on a black Majestic fountain pen that I use daily at my place of work. I bought it for a few dollars at an antique shop a couple of years ago. Usually, I avoid using this pen for writing my blogs as it runs out of ink quickly after filling it.

I did find out recently that if you take the end of the pen off and refill the pen manually instead of with the filler that accompanies the pen, that I am able to write a lot longer. Even with the extended fills that came through this way of filling the pen, I still needed to refill the pen twice. The pen is also short (5” long). It does irritate my hand when I use it, because it is so short and the end is squared off. But, I do absolutely love the way that the nib flows when I write with it.