Having Fun Getting Ready for High Rose Tide

From mid April through 4th of July, I spend every available daylight hour working outside to make the gardens here at Der Rosenmeister as beautiful as possible. Guess I was out in the sun too long when my friend, Alex Solla, of Alex Solla Photography took this pic. His daughter was helping edge the bed of roses along the driveway. When I saw this strip of sod, I couldn't resist! I was reminded of wearing a tallis for my bar mitzvah back in 1967.

This spring I bought a new garden tractor. It has 4 wheel drive, a 60 inch mowing deck, and a 27 horse power engine. Mowing goes so much faster now. And I can haul things all over the three acres that make up our home landscape.

Aurora Solla has been a great help to me over the past few years. She is not only is she a hard worker, but a  great conversationalist and oh so smart. The days go quickly when we are working together here.

I promise to be all cleaned up when you come here Friday for our open house!

Less Than a Week Until Our Open House

Tenth Annual Open House 

Friday, June 14th, 4-7 PM 

Der Rosenmeister Nursery

190 Seven Mile Drive

Here is just a taste of what you will find here on Friday.

This is a shot of Rosa eglanteria, the Sweetbriar rose, often found in hedgerows in rural England. It is known for these sweet, single blossoms, apple scented foliage and bright red rose hips that persist into the winter.

'Lillian Gibson' is a vigorous shrub/rambler developed by Dr. Niels Hansen in 1938. It is a fountain of blossoms right now. In the winter the red stems glow against the snow. She is hardy to zone 3!

'Dreaming Spires' is a large flowered climber bred by Mattock in the UK in 1973. It has a strong fragrance and an enchanting color. This rose refers to the city of Oxford.

'Scharlachglut,' ('Scarlet Glow'), shares its brilliance with me twice a year- first with its scarlet blooms in June and then in the fall and winter with its scarlet red rose hips. It was developed in Germany by Wilhelm Kordes in 1952. Staggering in size and color, an essential rose.

This year, we are specializing in climbers and ramblers. To make space for our expanded collection of this class of rose, I removed beds of established gallicas and albas and built the arbors you see above. Each post will have a climber or rambler planted alongside it. 

Here is the view as you approach the brick terrace. There are seats on the terrace under the pink wisteria in the shade. A lovely spot to sit in the afternoon. The terrace is surrounded by a newly built rose arbor. 

Here's the view from the terrace looking down towards the lower parking area. You will walk alternately through arches and tunnels of roses and then across short stretches of open lawn. Within two years, each pair of posts and cross piece will be cloaked in fragrant roses.

'Rosarium Uetersen' is one of the most floriferous roses in our gardens. Each salmon pink blossom is made up of almost 150 petals! This blooming machine has shiny, immaculate foliage. It can be grown as a climber or pruned to  be a specimen shrub or create and impenetrable flowering hedge.

We hope to see you Friday!