The Rose Whisperer: D茅j脿 vu all over again
If baseball great Yogi Berra were a dedicated reader of The Rose Whisperer (and maybe he is!), he鈥檇聽probably think he鈥檇 seen Photo No. 1 above before. And the quotable Mr. Berra would be exactly right.
I took the picture back on May 1 to accompany my first Whisperer posting. In that post, I wrote about the relationship between writing and gardening. I also offered some tips for rejuvenating tired soil and planting a new tree rose.
Soon, the tree rose was coming along very nicely. In fact, today it鈥檚 covered with blooms.
But along the way, this little patch of garden took an unexpected turn. The tree rose was supposed to be the focal point -- the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae.聽 Instead, the plants around the Baby Blanket rose (see Photo No. 2) have at long last stolen the show.
Over the years I鈥檝e tried to create a classic cottage garden with the look British gardeners call 鈥渁 tidy mess.鈥� Things may look helter-skelter, but they鈥檙e supposed to. To make it all work, you need plants that complement one another as partners and a little serendipity. More often than not, I鈥檝e struck out.
Now I have roses -- including Tradescant (see Photo No. 3), L.D. Braithwaite, James Galway, and Knock Out -- living happily together along with catmints, foxgloves, , and clematis. It鈥檚 an amazing display of teamwork.
So what happened? The old double tree rose I dug up and discarded in April was wide and dense. Perhaps the little area was starved for sunlight. Or maybe it鈥檚 all the rain we鈥檝e had this spring. Or maybe I鈥檝e found just the right lineup of companion plants.
In the end, it doesn鈥檛 really matter. You see, Yogi also said, 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 know where you鈥檙e going, you鈥檒l wind up somewhere else.鈥�
I don鈥檛 always know where I鈥檓 headed with my garden journey. But I鈥檝e ended up in some very beautiful places.
Psssst: Be warned, may be getting ready to zero in on your roses.
Editor's Note: We're almost ready to announce the first-, second-, and third-place winners in a Gardening With the Monitor photo contest on Flickr. Return tomorrow to get a look at the winning images. At the same time, we'll announce a new contest.
