First Rose

Having grown up in the "City of Roses," Portland, Oregon, I love roses. We have a flower bed at the end of our deck that was empty. The previous owners of our home had two little boys, and every time we toured the house there were dump trucks and other boy paraphenalia in the flower bed. It was obviously a little boys dream come true.

However, it was not this big girl's dream come true. I had a dog and a toddler that LOVED to make a muddy mess in this empty flower bed. Me, I did not LOVE the muddy mess. Thus this flower bed had to become a true flower bed. Early in May we planted five rose bushes, Gladiola bulbs, and some other bedding plants. I have five rose bushes, all different.



My peace rose is planted closest to the house, the peace rose is one of my all time favorites. I love it's yellow flower with the edges of the petals kissed with pink. Next to the Peace rose is a pink rose that I can not remember the name of. In the middle is my red rose. On the other side of the red rose is my Queen Elizabeth rose, another favorite which is a pink rose. The fifth and last rose bush is my second all time favorite the Tropicana, I just love the salmon color of it's flowers. Understandably my roses went into shock and for awhile there we were not even sure if any or some would make it. Alas, all of them are starting to come out of their shocks and the last remaining shocked rose has new shoots on it. My red rose is starting to bud and bloom. The rose bushes are still too small to support blooms so I cut the bloom off and brought it inside to enjoy.