Can I just tell you how much I love flowers. No, seriously, I LUV flowers. I am something of a rose maniac. I have close to 20 rose bushes in my yard (and it’s a smallish city yard). I love their scent and their shape. Scent is what first attracted me to roses–I was given two David Austin English roses called Abraham Darby (apricot with a grapefruit scent) and Gertrude Jekyl (magenta with a sweet scent). I’m telling you, these roses smelled so good, I ran out and bought bushes for my own yard (which was then a rental). As the years have gone by, I’ve collected many more Austin roses, as well as many antique and old fashioned roses. Almost all of them are very fragrant. And the bushes are huge and happy. I only have one hybrid tea (Just Joey –it’s apricot with huge blooms and a fabulous fragrance)–because hybrid teas are usually devoid of scent and they all look alike to me. And they are so hybridized that they have a hard time warding off bugs and diseases. I don’t spray with chemicals (just water if aphids appear to be a problem) and I use only organic fertilizer every few years. Mostly I put them in places with sun, give them lots of compost and water and reap the fragrant results. Heaven….
Sweet peas come in a close second to roses. How I love sweet peas. They are pretty, fragrant and they are a vine.! Hooray! How great is that? They climb up the fence I put up around my veggie garden and whenever I walk by them they smell so good and want to stay there all day.
Some day I’ll have pictures of everything I’m talking about…
we are going to have to work on the picture thing. i am amazed when people have the patience for roses. i sure don’t!.
Hey Jeanne! I know what you mean by flowers… My chocolate cosmos and helitrope are so wonderfully fragrant at dusk! Roses, however, are not my forte (never had much luck with them). But I do get to enjoy them in my neighbor’s yard!