An Afternoon at the Desert Botanical Gardens at Papago Park, Phoenix

An afternoon spent at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix at Papago Park was delightful. 

A beautiful spring day at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix

My mother, our friend, Wilma, and I spent a wonderful three or four hours in the sunshine and fresh air, taking in the desert scenery.  

Barn's Butte at Papago Park

Wilma volunteers as a docent at the gardens. She led us on a spirited tour through the wildflowers and cactus. We saw so much to inspire and awe, and might have spent another day or two to see the rest of it. 

Our intrepid guide, Wilma

The Butterfly Pavillion is open until the first week in May. Dozens of beautiful specimens happily flutter about an enclosed garden going about their business little noticing the camera-mad public in their lives.

A Buckeye Butterfly on a bright yellow columbine

This Giant Swallowtail finds the red petunias alluring

Having grown up in Phoenix, the Sonoran desert is a familiar landscape to me, but I was very excited to see desert plants from Mexico such as the Creeping Devil cactus and the Boojum Tree.

The creepy Creeping Devil cactus from Mexico

The exotic Boojum Tree

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The exotic Boojum Tree

Potting Up a Brand New Rosebush!

I am happy to say that I have a new rosebush! This forward little chap is the first of my collection of cuttings to sport a bud. Well! If it's old enough to begin the reproductive cycle already, it is certainly old enough for its own pot!

Starting Young! A Pink Mini Bud on a Young Cutting

Ready to Transplant

Below is the crowd of my cuttings that made it out of the baggies and into yogurt pots to continue their root development journey in an actual pot. At this stage there are no guarantees; already one of these deceptively robust fellows shriveled up and died. Obviously, this time in their lives may be fraught with danger.

Already a Standout Among the Crowd Shown Here on January 4th

However, I think I will have a few successes this year. Below, see how I have assembled my new rosebush, a scrubbed-in-bleach clay pot, and potting soil. It's a gorgeous sunny day and I am in the front yard IN SHORTS! (NOT shown!) It's hard to believe that it's January!

Assembled Equipment

I am pleased to see some solid rooting and a nice root ball holding together.

Plenty of Healthy Roots

A little gravel ( also washed in bleach) went into the pot first,  then a layer of commercial potting soil. The little  gal seems happy to stretch and breathe!

Getting Settled 

A  good outdoor soak of water with a shot of vitamin  B-1 solution, which is formulated for transplanting, and she's ready.  A nice, sunny south window will make a perfect spot for her to grow through the winter. In the early spring, I'll start taking her on day outings to harden her off.

In Her New home

The alabaster Bruce LaFountain sculpture, "Longing for Her Warrior" , though disdainful in general, seems to approve and be willing to share a spot on the antique chest for now.

The Bruce LaFountain Sculpture Approves

It is gratifying to have a brand new rosebush for the garden next spring!

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The Long Road to Spring

Rural School Bus Route Near Three Turkeys Canyon ~ Looking  Toward  Black Mesa

It's a long road to spring here. Rural roads go from being beautifully snow packed in the frozen days to become warming, melting mud bogs.

Road to Sawmill ~ Past Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly

The cold ebbs and wanes slowly, then comes at us again with ferocious storms from the north or the west, making daily life and travel a painstaking process:

Highway 15 South of Burnside, Arizona, on our way to Flagstaff Arizona, December 31, 2010.  Only 120  Miles to Go!

Having a winter garden project, for me,  is essential. This fall I tried the Ziplock baggie method for rooting roses. I am very pleased with the project so far. (Please see my Propagation Project Page .) I originally had about 30 cuttings in baggies:

Cutting in Baggies

Roots Showing on Cuttings after 4-6 Weeks in Baggies

 It seems that just under half are going to make it; not a fantastic outcome but enough to keep me busy and excited.

Roots!

I'll Have Roses to Plant This Spring!!

I do love living in such a remote, quiet spot on the globe, whatever the inconveniences. With the darkest day of the year behind us now and my new roses growing their little hearts out for me in the living room, I can almost think, as did the beaming, simple Mr. Collins, carving and eating away at Lady Catherine De Bourgh's table, that perhaps, 'life could furnish nothing more'.
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The Garden is Simply a Vehicle

Winter Solstice Full Moon Through the Apricot Tree ~ Before the Eclipse

Our Gardens are our pleasure and our delight, to be sure. We love having the soil on our hands and the sun on our faces. We love the smells and sights and sounds and feel of our gardens. Our gardens are our vehicle for experiencing great and simple human pleasures. We love the processes that take us along as we create a setting for ourselves in which to experience the quiet and contemplative, or the singing and rejoicing, the laughing, delighting aspects of our lives.

Last night I sat in our garden at midnight, the moist breeze of an unusually warm winter weather system mussing  my hair, brushing my skin, filling my senses with the odors of lingering, dying greenery, and rich soil. Sitting in the dim light of an eclipsing moon, my garden gave me a treasure box setting from which to watch the rare celestial phenomenon of a total lunar eclipse. I didn't need to see colorful flowers and green grass. The winter garden, grey and sleeping under the night sky, gave me my heart full for one winter solstice night.

The Winter Solstice Total Lunar Eclipse ~ December 20/21, 2010

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The Jude the Obscure Rose ~ An Ethereal, Fleeting Beauty

David Austin's Jude the Obscure ~ I had longed to try this rose in my garden for a year or two before I was able to realize my dream. Everything I saw and read described such beauty such fragrance! 

Jude the Obscure ~ A Peachy Bud

Not being near any rose gardens besides my own, (the closest towns with lovely rose gardens being over 100 miles away in any direction), I had to wait to grow him myself. I am certainly NOT disappointed in the flowers and fragrance of Jude the Obscure, but, I think I may know now why he is called "Obscure".

Unselfconscious About Being Fabulous ~ Jude the Obscure

Perhaps he was named for Jude Fawley, the hero of the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, though, personally, I would not have associated that person with this lovely, delicate, fragrant rose. 

Jude the Obscure ~ Romantically Alluring in the Evening Light

I am thinking, rather, now that I am acquainted with my very own Jude the Obscure on a more personal level, that his name has something to do with the dearth of blossoms that this stingy rose produces.

Jude the Obscure ~ Upstaging the Petunias

Certainly, he seems preoccupied with something other than producing roses. I never get more than a few rare blossoms each season. Perhaps my one poor little bush is mentally wandering through the Halls of Christminster, wishing for a more academic distinction than birth or breeding would seem to indicate. Perhaps he is simply afraid of having children, due to the unhappy outcome of his namesake in that area.  

Oh! The Fragrance of Jude the Obscure!

For whatever reason he is named Jude the Obscure, it does, unfortunately, seem rather fitting. I am hoping, though, that as his 4th season in my garden approaches, he will have matured enough to realize that achieving his

  full potential as a beautiful and productive rose bush will be his happiest destiny.

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Roses on China

Last week I noticed that the roses blooming in my Mom's garden in Scottsdale, Arizona, looked very much like the roses painted on an antique china plate in her cupboard.

It reminded me that roses have always been adored, admired, painted and planted by people who love pretty things. This plate is well over 60 years old; in fact, my Mother has had it  almost that long herself, and it was old when she acquired it. The roses blooming in her pots are from the Home Depot and the grocery store just a few years ago, with names unknown. I wonder what roses were the inspiration for the artist? Were they just generic images in his head that came out on his china palate, or were they interpertations of beloved plants grown in her garden and lovingly brushed onto the plate to treasure forever? Likely it was just a job and the flowers were painted according to some standard directions. Though that takes a bit of the romance out, it remains facinating to me that these roses, so far apart in time and space, are yet of a race of eternal beauty rediscovered and enjoyed in so many different ways by each generation anew.

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Prairie Star, a Star in My Garden

Driving out of town before dawn last  Sunday, we enjoyed the bright sight of Venus dominating the south eastern skies. She was brilliant! The alarm going off at 3:50 am didn't seem so much of a punishment, with this vision to reward us for the first stretch of our 4 hour drive, which took us over the sparsely populated High Colorado Plateau.

Prairie Star was so aptly named! Like Venus, the Morning Star, shining through the night sky and over the wakening land, Prairie Star shines brightly in our garden.  A hearty plant whose flushes throughout the summer are a cornerstone of beauty in our little yard, Prairie Star really glows in early morning and in evening light. We have planted 2 around the birdbath, and they work together well to reward us with a great show. Disease free and healthy, this Buck rose is a delight and a joy to grow. I do wish Prairie Star had more fragrance, but perhaps that is asking too much form a star.

Prairie Star Glowing in the Twilight'

Prairie Star Baby May 2008



Prairie Star ~ by July 2008, Blooming His Heart Out for Us!





Prairie Star and Fans ~ Stargazer Llies



Prairie Star ~ July 2008 Such a Star!

Prairie Satr by August 2010 ~ All Grown Up

Prairie Star ~ August 2010

 Read more about Prairie Star:
Loving the Prairie Star Rose

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