Last June, B and I spent a few days at a farmhouse in North Carolina. The old roses in various colors were blooming profusely on the hillside.
While we were there, we went to Asheville to the rose show at the Botanical Gardens. The local rose growers were having a small fundraising sale. We bought an antique rose and kept it alive through the unusual heat-wave that was in the area.
A lightly fragrant rose of the palest pink, Souvenir de la Malmaison produces fairly large, compact blooms. It is a Bourbon rose, introduced in 1843.
We have not had a lot of success with our efforts at rose-growing, mostly from the wrong place, wrong plant issue. Roses need LOTS of sun.
The man who sold us this rose told us he had grown them successfully in New Orleans. Well, that is real close to our climate here.
This past weekend, we got our first blooms.
I am thrilled! It is all that I ever wanted in a rose.
What a wonderful souvenir of our trip.
3 comments:
That was a wonderful Picture.
Beautiful.
Malmaison = sick house?
Pardon my French.... but I don't know much French! But that sounds right. I was also thinking of the words "malady" and "malus" and "malicious." I looked mal up and it is old French for "bad," and interestingly it comes from malus, which is the genus name for apple. Malus is a genus within the rose family. Another meaning for "maison" is "family". So maybe "apple family"?
One bad apple...
Post a Comment