These are right of the camera. It's rare that not even a little tweaking needs to be done. I'm not a huge fan of red flowers. I gravitate towards yellow and purples, but there is something about a red poppy that screams classy at me. Give me a yellow rose, but when it comes to poppies, red is the clear choice. What makes one prefer a certain color over another? What makes one prefer a certain flower color for a specific type of flower?

Birthday Rose

My roses began blooming this week. They are one of my favorite parts of summer. When my summer baby was born, a friend gave me a Longaberger basket with instructions for creating a special mother-daughter tradition. Each year I give my daughter a rose from our garden on her birthday. I hang it to dry and place the dried petals in the basket. These petals are meant to be sprinkled down the aisle on her wedding day. I love that our garden may one day play a part in one of the most important events of her life.

A Rose is a Rose?

The award winning 'Julia Child' stands alone. (Well, in this picture it stands next to some baby cleome.)

I've always been the type of gardener to let color and texture guide me. I know the general name of flowers, but not specifics. I think that is about to change.

I have mentioned in the past that I am crazy about roses, but now I believe I am straddling the fanatic stage. I have twelve rose bushes to date. I know that I have two varieties of fairy roses. I also have a 'Persian Yellow'. I picked up the Persian Yellow because the tag said it has a "strong licorice" fragrance. I love licorice so I considered this a sign that this plant was meant for me. (Don't ask what signs I received telling me to get 11 other roses in the past 3 years. They just called to me.) The rest of my roses are unidentified. I'm sure that I have their names in a file somewhere, but what they were called never mattered to me really. Now as my collection grows, I realize that I must learn the names 1. to avoid the danger of having a garden full of fussy roses (as we all know they can be) and 2. So that I don't duplicate my purchases for despite the immense variety of roses, I tend to gravitate towards particular colors and leaf shapes.

The realization that my lack of knowledge is a problem came today while I was researching a plant I admired in another garden. I am now on the hunt for a 'Julia Child' rose. Its yellow blossoms are splendid and I was told that it is very easy to grow. When I looked up the rose on the Weeks roses website I learned that the flowers have a spicy licorice scent. Could this be the yellow rose I recently purchased? I ran outside to see if I left the tag on the flower and luckily I had. The flower is a "Persian Yellow," which with more research I learned is fussier than Julia and blooms only once. 'Julia Child' blooms all summer long. Wow!

Tucked in the recesses of my brain, I knew some roses bloomed longer than others. I know that some of my roses get black spot and others don't succumb to diseases at all. Yet, when I am standing in the garden center in front of a beautiful rose, I get weak kneed. Nothing else matters except the color and fragrance of the rose before me. But I have so many rose choices and it seems that I should learn to choose more wisely before I run out of space...before I miss out on fabulous plants like the 'Julia Child'. I need to learn more about my hobby.

The trouble with my chosen hobby is that there really is so much to know. Besides the the plants themselves, we also must know about soil, bugs, weather, etc. etc. I have a master's degree in another field. It seems like I should acquire one in this arena too to become a really good gardener, even if it is just for a hobby. After ten years of gardening, I still find myself staring blankly at other gardeners if they delve too deeply into latin names.

So how to proceed? I once gardened alone -- without talking with other gardeners except an occasional conversation at a garden center. When I became a garden photographer three years ago, I began talking to the professionals at the garden centers even more. When I decided to write a book about gardening last year, I began to talk to people just like me. I interviewed backyard gardeners who have picked up the lingo over time. One can learn a lot through in-person gardening companionship, online browsing and correspondence, and reading books. I am also considering working toward a master gardener certification.

I've learned recently that a rose is not just a rose. Each has its own personality and it's time for me to get to know them a little better.

Rationalizing...

I visited five garden centers last week. Only one was a planned visit. I spent money at each place I visited. Okay, I'll give myself that it is early in the season. I'm excited. My gardens are crying for attention. I'm yearning for bare spots to be filled. The garden centers entice with flowers already in bloom. My garden is still in its last stages of dozing. (Wait...none of the things I bought last week are in bloom yet.Let's change that thought...) The pictures on the labels promising what particular plants will look like when in bloom cried out to me. I've developed a thing for chartreuse too. I noticed that in my garden only my three eunonymous plants have chartreuse, so of course I had to buy the chartreuse sedum that excited me when I saw it. Then I had a thing going and had to buy the chartreuse artemesia to balance the yard. After all, artemesia is one of my favorite plants and I have never seen it in this color! I visited the Bedford Garden Club's annual plant sale and I have to support the local garden club right? My daughter and I always enjoy their plantings downtown and at the library. We want them to keep up the good work. I had to be fair and buy my daughter a plant too, for her new reading garden. She really liked the bleeding heart at the plant sale. How could I say "no"? And the new garden center that my friend Sara introduced me to this weekend? Well, the prices were too good to pass up! I bought a 'Dark Dancer' clover. I have never seen anything like it. It was loaded with four leaf clovers and I've been telling my daughter for two years that I will find her a four leaf clover for good luck , but our searches have been to no avail. Since this was loaded with them, I took it as a sign that I had to get it and it was only $4! They also had a yellow rose bush that supposedly smells like licorice. Considering that yellow roses are my absolute favorite and I am a fanatic for licorice, I couldn't let that one go either...It was another sign.

Well, it's too early in the season to declare that I have a problem. But I do need to rein it in now. I have some specific plans that need attention. I'm on the lookout for unusual herbs for my herb garden this year. I am also looking for a lovely smelling ground cover for my daughter's reading garden path. (I'm leaning toward creeping thyme, but need to watch the light to make sure it is enough for this plant.) Finally, I need a little ground cover for an area leading to my back yard. Otherwise, I'm done... At least for a few weeks... Oh yes, and I only need 20 more points at my favorite garden center to get $25 worth of plants free - I'm so excited that they carry over points from last year. Not every place does that - So of course I need to go there soon too...

Peonies

The greening is in full swing! Yesterday, I looked out the window and saw it. That beautiful spring yellowy green color dotted the sky. The leaves are popping, which of course means the peonies are dashing through the soil.

Our fairy house, intended to welcome the fairies who favor peony, fell over in the spring winds the other day. We will need to build a new fairy house fast. While walking in the woods this week, we saw a strong fairy house. It was obviously built by a kid who knew what she was doing. We are newbie fairy house builders, but we will model our new attempt on this more advanced house. I feel like the pig who built his house of straw. We need to focus on raising the standards to the piggy who favored brick. ("King Piggy" lives in my daughter's reading garden. He is originally from the "Little People" toy farmhouse, but he wanted a new residence. We took the bricks that were pulled up when we had a drainage system put in last year. We built his new house with these under his supervision. We should invite him to come supervise the fairy house. I'm sure he could advise us how to make it stand, even under heavy winds.)

Peonies remind me of ants. My mother had a white peony near the raspberry bushes when I was young. I remember their soft petals all over the lawn, the heavenly smell, and the ants. For this reason, I do not favor the peony. At least I'm not a fairy who has to live in one. I think I'd prefer to live in a rose. The thorns would provide protection from unwanted guests. I'd still get the heavenly smell and the soft petals.

I recognize that the peony is beautiful. We have three well established ones, planted by the previous owner. I wouldn't plant one myself. Not only do they have ants, they fade fast. Then, their brown leaves scatter on the ground and the stalks look icky. They are beautiful, but I'll visit the numerous varieties at my favorite local garden center rather than buying ones that require my care. I have no sympathy for their ways, so I think adding more to my brood just wouldn't work very well. When I cut back the peonies early in the season when the bloom fades, there is a great big gap in the garden. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Maybe there is a way to plant so that something follows on the tail of the peony when it's done with its show? Maybe I should ask that fairy when she gets here.

Hydrangea Dreams

During the growing season, I frequent garden centers at least once a week. There is always something new that catches my eye. I buy a particular plant, or two, or three of them to put in my garden. The plant brings me joy and I move on to the the next. But something happened to me last year to change that pattern. I found a plant and kept buying and buying it. More than that, I plan to spend most of the money I allow myself for gardening this year buying more of it.

I have been a rose lover most of my life. Every year I buy a rose or two to add to the garden. It's a special treat for me. But this new addiction goes beyond the rose. I put on rose brakes because I know that the roses are fussy. I love them more than they love me. I don't expect much from them because I don't give them the attention they long to have. Roses are the prima donas of the flower world. I have never been one for prima donas...Work with me or I cut you loose. But I appreciate the intense beauty of a rose. I like to have it around, but will never allow it to control me. I honor it, taking what it will give me and moving on to the next flower. We live in peace, giving each other just enough love to continue the relationship, but never enough to encourage exclusivity. I'm sure I"ll add another rose or two this year...

But I digress...this story is not about the rose. It's about a new love. I've developed a passion that may encourage faithfulness. Three years ago I moved to my new house. A few miles away is a 28 acre preserve of land that includes an old garden featuring hydrangea. The white hydrangea were planted in an L shape. They flower from early to late summer. They make a remarkable play area for my daughter and her friends to play hide and seek. They remind me of "old fashioned" gardens in the English style I so love.

I bought a hydrangea for my own yard the first year I moved here and think I even had one on my old property. But for me hydrangea was like a friend who has a crush on you and waits in the wings until you are ready to reciprocate. I knew of its existence. I enjoyed the relationship. I did not recognize its inner being for what it truly is. Hydrangea is perfect! It is easy to grow and it grows fast. The plants get better and better over time. One can easily find native varieties that take little care. It can grow in sun or shade depending on the variety. It can be pink, or blue, or white and often the color only depends on your whim. Change what you feed it and it changes color if the variety allows. The blooms are huge. (Size does matter.) When the blooms are through for the season, you can dry them and make pretty arrangements in the house.

I now have six hydrangeas. My goal is to rim the whole yard with them. I have a wooded lot and the hydrangea would blend perfectly against the backdrop of myrtle. I estimate it will take perhaps 40 or 50 more shrubs to accomplish my vision....anyone know of a great nursery for purchasing hydrangea?

The Corsage

As I remember it...my grandfather would visit every weekend. He walked in the door, took off his hat, and sat down for his lunch - sandwich meat on toast. My mother had hat boxes lined in the closet. I don't remember the hats, but I remember the boxes. These days my hat boxes come with pajamas in them (from pajamagram.) They have lots of pretty hats in the store this time of year, but I never see anything like them on a woman's head. When I was young, Dad would dress in a tie and suit every day. Just ten years ago my husband dressed for work too. Now if he goes to work "dressed up" people ask him who died or where he is interviewing.

We have lost many attire formalities in modern day society, along with many social graces. People no longer wear hats when they go out. Few men wear ties. Men and women often don't even "dress" to go to a fancy restaurant or to worship. We have lost traditions that I think add a little something special to our often mundane lives.

Last year I gave my daughter her first corsage and plan to give her another this year. This will be one of our "dress up" traditions. To celebrate the Easter holiday with friends (and for me the welcoming of spring,) I bought all four of the girls at the Easter party their own corsage. I called the local flower shop a couple of days early and had them make up special pink ones for the girls wrists. As all the girls were 5 and under, the florist took special care to ensure their were no pins sticking out. The flowers came, as they traditionally do, in little clear plastic boxes and smelled of refrigerated roses - fresh, clean and special to my nose. My daughter stood by the window (you can see the snow still on the ground) admiring her accoutrement. Her spring dress was not quite right for the still winter-like weather. The satiny pink brim of the hat -- yes, note that she is a hat person. We are bringing back that tradition too! -- perfectly matched the smooth, glossy petals. I'm not sure the other girls were enchanted with this unexpected surprise that brought a little nature and early summer to their ensemble. But I know that my little nature lover was enthralled.

I remember two occasions when I received corsages, my sixth grade graduation and the prom. There may have been other times, but these two are burned in my mind. I remember the pins being stuck into my dress. I remember the roses flopping against my body. I remember that fresh refrigerated rose smell....to this day the rose is still my favorite flower...

Yellow Roses

Did you get flowers for Valentine's Day?

My favorite flower is a yellow rose. Yellow is my favorite color and I have a passion for the rose. I love lavender. No other smell soothes my soul in quite the same way. I have a new adoration for hydrangea, which are prolific and long lasting. I like delicate pansies with their little faces...but their is nothing in this world more perfect than a rose. Visually speaking, The rose is also the one flower I feel unable to properly capture in a photograph. No matter how beautiful my rose portraits are, I am unable to beat the beauty of nature itself. (A Rose's Last Hurrah, the pink rose above, is the one that I feel has come closest to the perfection I seek. It's colors are delicate and also vibrant. The details of the petals are visible with fine lines that add a porcelain quality the flower. The iamge shows the petals unfolding, their curves and slight imperfections. The image include leaves and thorns, showing the rose's whole character.)

My husband once paid me a great compliment...he is not really a flower person. He enjoys my gardens, but doesn't feel a connection to them really. He told me that my flower photographs are more beautiful than the flowers themselves. He said that my photos make him see beauty that he never would have otherwise noticed. My husband doesn't say things like this unless he means them.

I love capturing a flower's essence. When I hang my flower images on my walls, they brighten the room and remind me of spring. My pictures can make me as happy as seeing the real thing...but not my pictures of roses. It's not just my pictures though...I can't think of any rose image I've seen that evokes the same mood from me that a real rose does. Delicate soft petals, rich colors, curvaceous blossoms gently unfolding...sometimes we just can't improve or match nature's best.

My husband gave me a dozen yellow roses yesterday. These are extra special because they have coral edging. I walk by the kitchen counter and have to stop to smell them. They are exquisite. The flowers are about half open now and I'm toying with the idea of creating a still-life with them. Is it a useless endeavor? Perhaps if I keep at it and keep creating photos that unsatisfy me, the rose will become my nemesis and my passion for it will suffer. How do other artists deal with this? Do you keep trying to capture the elusive subject or do you eventually give up and move on?