Everything's Comin' Up Roses

Dear Gentle Readers:

As a wedding gift, and knowing how much I love and enjoy flowers, my newly wedded husband, Teddy, decided he would plant a special garden for me in our backyard. After a trip to Home Depot last Sunday after worship, and several hundred$ of dollar$ later, we came home with petunias, marigolds, 9 rose bushes, other assorted "spring color spot" plants, border, veggie seeds for our veggie garden (a work in progress) that include spinach, squash, orka, and two tomato plants. And finally, 5 bags of mulch. (Mulch is the "secret" to a thriving garden, so don't neglect this step of the planting process. Trust me on this one.)

And he got right to work. Over the course of three and one-half days, he has dug up the ugly Hawthornes that lined the back portion of the house (the sunny, west side), and replaced them with roses in a variety of colors and heights: red (2), pink (2), yellow (4) and iceberg white (1). "Stunning" is the word I'd use to describe the result. The picture at the top of this post is of yellow Lady Banks, the name of the rose he bought for me. It is a minature, climbing rose.



The Wedding Garden has an attractive white Adirondack border around the perimeter of the garden in which he placed our birdbath in the center (after cleaning it out -- YUCK!!!), then planted fragrant yellow and orange marigolds. They are spectacular and can easily be seen as I sit in the recliner in our bedroom.

Lastly, he planted pink petunias in the front yard (in two separate areas of the beds) and used some of the left over marigolds for three pots he placed in the Angel Garden, also located in the front beds. On the patio in the back yard, he planted 5 containers of -- I forget the exact name, but they are tiny pink flowers with "lacy" green foliage. Using some more left over marigolds, he made three hanging baskets that now adorn our large Red Oak tree in the back yard. Every single flower he bought was used in a beautiful manner.

Our plans are to sit on the patio -- weather permitting -- and enjoy the fruits of his labor. We also have five assorted wind chimes that provide a melodic accompaniment to our evenings on our patio. We call it our PT, or Patio Time.

Domino has loved "working" with Teddy in the gardens as well as sitting on the patio in the evenings with us. Domino sits with one of us while alertly surveying his area of responsibility! There we are, the happy little family, with Teddy drinking his iced tea, and me sipping my crisp glass of Chardonnay.

Life is good. Life is very good...and it's comin' up roses...or mostly roses...