The holidays have passed again, although we still have all our decorations up! I have been waiting for the batteries in the garlands to finish up and then we’ll be putting everything away. I love it when Bob builds a fire in the wood stove each evening with the tree twinkling and the candles on the mantle glowing softly. We enjoy each other’s company in the warm parlor while the wind howls on the early darkness outdoors. Winter is a time for rest, but it is also a time for some work and preparing for the garden season to come.

Snow Drought

This winter, many places have been hammered with snow. Buffalo, NY, northwest of here, has been absolutely buried! California, which has suffered from drought for so long, seems to have been getting several years-worth of precipitation in a relatively short time. Here, in our little town of Suffield, Connecticut, we’ve gotten plenty of rain in the last month and lots of wind, but our temperatures have been relatively moderate and we’ve only had 7” of snow which melted within a day.

As a gardener, I appreciate a really good snowfall! Snow is an amazing insulator. There could be no better winter protection for our roses than 3’ of snow that lasted from mid-December till mid-March, but it never seems to work out that way. I checked out the ten-day forecast this morning and it’s still calling for temps in the 20’s at night and in the mid-40’s during the day. The snow drought will continue, at least through mid-month.

The Rosarian’s January: Grocery Store Roses and Houseplants

My roses have been sleeping since the end of November, so this is the time of year I visit the flower shop in the grocery store. I select a bunch of mixed greens and a dozen roses and bring them home to make a lovely arrangement. I also enjoy my houseplants! The days are just beginning to get a little longer, so my plants are responding. The Moth Orchids are blooming and lovely, the cyclamen are putting on a show, the rex begonias are starting to grow again, and the African violets are lovely. I have a trailing violet that has lived with me since 1975. She blooms in purple clusters and completely hides her flower pot. Her name is ‘Happy Trails,’ and she is a pleasure to grow.

I have a ‘ceropegia woodii’ or Rosary Plant that belonged to my Lithuanian grandmother. She started it in the early 1920’s and gave it to me in the mid-1970’s. A String of Pearls falls from an antique lamp bracket upstairs in the turret (which my granddaughters call ‘Rapunzel’s Room’). Also in the turret are baby roses growing and a Burro’s Tail Sedum. Watch your houseplants. They are waking up, so it’s time to give them a little Miracle-Gro. That will replenish the nutrients that have been used up by the plants and get them up and growing again.

Growing Donated Roses at the High School Greenhouse

CT Rose Society builds a 32’x30’ display for the CT Flower and Garden Show every year. It is always quite the display and I’ll be writing more about this next month, but I’d like to do a big shout-out and thank you to David Alm and Star Roses for donating our roses this season. Another big thank you to Karen Dean at Certified Roses for her kind donation to our cause! My friend, Laura LaFlamme, the director of Suffield Agriscience, lets me bring our roses over to the greenhouse and force them there for the February show. The ten roses from Certified Roses came in on December 9, and on the 12th I brought them to the high school and taught the kids how to prune bare-root roses and tuck them into pots.

The other roses came in about a week later. The kids were busy with winter happenings on their last week before winter break, so Bob and I went over with our friends, Bruce and Tim, and we potted up the rose order from Star. I was so thankful to get everything planted up before the holidays! I visited the other day and watered everything. They are all growing and will get Osmocote next week. With all the rain we have been having, I’m sure Laura will turn on her big, warm grow lights. I love standing under them…it’s like standing in my garden on a warm, June morning.

A Sad Loss

And then, when least expected, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of life, I got a call yesterday afternoon that our beloved friend, Andy Vanable, passed away yesterday morning. I still don’t know what happened to him, but he was like a younger brother to me and was well loved and respected in our rose world.

A few years ago, after writing this blog for 10 years, I passed it over to Andy and he kept it going for a number of months. I picked it up again last March because he needed to cut back on all the things he was doing. Andy had a golden heart which he wore on his sleeve. He was a sweet and gentle man. He was a treat to know, and I was proud to call him friend and rose family. Godspeed, dear Andy. We will all miss you very much.