Reaping the Reward

my garden's gift of a spring bouquet of sweet peas, daffodils, yarrow, and rose

A few days ago I noticed the first sweet pea blossom of the season, but by yesterday I saw there were several. With sweet peas, it’s important to pick the flowers to prevent them setting seed, because setting seed slows the development of more flowers. So I picked all that were in bloom and gave half of them to my sister.

I also picked a rose cluster, a white peony bud, and the last of the daffodils—the small, flat, butter yellow disks. And as I carried them into the house and arranged them in my favorite vase, a spaghetti sauce jar (!), I thought to myself and that’s what it’s all about. All the work over the past few months in the garden and all that remains is so worth it.

Here are a few photos of my roses, the glory of the garden at this time of year. The first is of one of my many pink rose bushes. It’s a David Austin rose, and for those of you who aren’t familiar with them, David Austin is an English rose breeder who specializes in crossing old roses and modern roses. Old roses are typically very fragrant and have distinct forms, often with very large numbers of petals. However, unlike modern roses which have been bred to bloom throughout the growing season, old roses only bloom once. Through his breeding program, David Austin has given us so many roses with the advantages of both.

pink David Austin roses

And here’s one of my favorite modern roses, Pop Art, with its beautiful coloring of pink splatters on a soft yellow background (or the other way around). You can see more roses in the background, most of which are David Austin roses.

Pop Art rose with yellow and pink splotched blooms

And, speaking of old roses, here’s a view of a wild rose growing up through one of the trees along my fence line. True to form, this is the only time of year it will be in bloom, but it’s filling the air with its glorious fragrance.

white wild rose climbing through a tree

As for my work in the garden, I’m behind—as always. Hopefully, I can catch up before it gets really hot, but the weather has been so strange and variable this spring that it’s hard to say how much time I have to work in relative comfort. However it turns out, I’ll keep at it and enjoy working in the middle of such ever-unfolding beauty.

---

I publish a weekly email newsletter, An Artful Path, which contains brief articles on art, animals, writing, the garden, and musings on life. You can subscribe on the home page of my website (just click the button below and scroll to the bottom of the page). Don't forget to claim your thank you gift for subscribing - access to my private web page for subscribers only which contains free goodies. And I add to the collection from time to time. And while you're on my website, www.KaarenPoole.com, take a look around!

Visit my Website to Subscribe to my Newsletter, An Artful Path

Your email address is safe with me. I don't share that information with anyone! And you can unsubscribe at any time.