The Roses of Linderhof And What We Do With Them. . .

I've always adored roses ever since I was a little girl.     Both mother and grandmother had roses in their gardens -- old fashioned roses -- the climbing kind that rambled up and over a trellis.      Mother's was pink -- I think it was a Dr. Van Fleet.    Grandmother's was a Paul's Scarlet -- a big red rose with (at least to a small child) very big thorns!     I learned to respect roses at an early age!

We've filled Linderhof's gardens with roses.    Unfortunately, their bloom time is short -- a week or two at the most.    But, I think, that Linderhof's gardens are the most beautiful when the roses are blooming. With our mild winter and early Spring, everything is 2 to 3 weeks ahead of normal bloom time and so instead of roses for Mother's Day, we had roses in April!

And they were especially splendid this year.

William Baffin is a Canadian Rose -- it loves the prairie!

The William Baffin which climbs up the arbor that connects house and garage.    Planted in 1997, it is now an old rose and it reaches for the sky!

A mystery rose

Another arbor and another pink rose -- and I've forgotten both it's name and where I got it from!

My Washington rose

Another old climbing rose which is in a shady part of the garden.    I got it from Washington State, but alas, I can't remember it's name either!

The only yellow rose in the garden
(until Daughter Sarah gifted me with yellow knock outs for Mother's Day)

A yellow knock out rose which surprisingly is fragrant, unlike those first knock-outs that were both red and odorless.  

The red knock outs in the foreground and the William Baffin in the background

Which are the line of roses that separate the herb garden from the patio.    And this year they made quite a show!

We enjoy the roses outside but we also enjoy the roses

A classic bouquet -- pink roses in blue and white transferware

In bouquets for the house.     The fragrance makes the whole room smell of roses.

And for the winter

Two trays of candied rose petals

We candy rose petals -- to top cakes or cupcakes in late fall and winter to remind us of spring and the roses blooming.

And we also

The start of rose potpourri 2012

make rose potpourri.    A jar is kept on the counter during rose time.     I'll go out and pick roses no less than every other day and the petals are put in the jar.    A sprinkle of salt goes on top.    And we add petals and salt until we either fill the jar or we run out of roses!    Once either the jar is full (or the roses run out), we place a saucer on top and press it down with a weight (a garden rock works nicely).    The jar goes to the basement and we ignore it for at least 3 months and sometimes longer.

What you have at the end is a brown ugly mass that smells of roses!    Remove this mass from the jar and break up into small chunks.    You can add to other potpourri if you want but we prefer to put in lidded china jars.    The fragrance is released into the room when the lid is removed!

It's as my grandmother did -- with those Paul's Scarlet roses she grew.     It's a way to extend spring past summer and into the fall and winter.