Dreaming....

...of warm summer evenings...

... the sweet damask scent of roses on the breeze...

...velvety petals unfolding deep red tones...

...an abundance of roses to quench the thirsty senses...

{shhhhh.....please don't wake me}

From my Valentine...

He sent me roses for Valentines

a dozen glowing beauties...

a mixture of creamy white and fiery red,

to celebrate our love.

...luscious, entwining, petal soft....

...cinnamon and vanilla...

...sweet and spicy...

(BTW... metering off a bouquet of deep red and creamy white roses is very difficult!  Either the reds were lost in darkness or the whites were completely blown. A real challenge, but one worth working for.... much like love.)

{linking up to Mosaic Monday today... click over to see some beautiful spring posies}

You are a rose...

"A flower unplucked is but left to the falling,
And nothing is gained by not gathering roses."

(from "Asking for Roses" 1915)

As you may know... I have a great fondness for roses.... and also for Robert Frost's poetry...

...some of his poems have gotten me through many a tough patch ...
 

The Rose Family by Robert Frost

The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only know
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose--
But were always a rose. 

...yes, I'm quite sure you are a rose....

Thank you for being a rose in my garden....

{linking up with Mary at Mosaic Monday and Lisa at Macro Monday today}

Raindrops on Roses

Here are some roses..... this blog is called "Almota Roses" afterall.... but my roses have been so late this year .... and the tea roses almost non-existent.

This tiny drop caught my eye.... hanging from a petal... it looks about to drop.
(ok -- I confess... the drops are not from rain, but the sprinkler.....;)

Folds of red velvet..... smells so luscious.

Just one of my David Austin roses. At least they are doing well this summer.

Couldn't resist this in creamy black and white.
Have a beautiful day!

Roses and Chocolate

Roses and chocolate.
Could anything be better?
Well, {maybe this lens}, but I am hoarding my money right now
.....saving for 5 plane tickets to Missouri. Ouch.

I entered this photo in {Pioneer Woman's Shallow DOF contest}.
I am still waiting for her to contact me and tell me I won.
He he, ha ha, ho hum.
I still like it very much, even if she doesn't.
I think her contests are rigged, don't you?
Ok, maybe not. Maybe it's because there {were almost 30,000 entries in the contest}.
Seriously, how would you chose from that many?

I've been playing around with textures and layers and layers of textures.
All the photos were taken in natural light from a north facing window.
I could have used a little more light.

I am in love with this photo. Love, love, love.

Randy thought I should have red roses -- you know, red roses = love.
He kindly let me pick my own roses. I chose these roses.
Besides, the two toned colors made for better photography.
(Men: a tip-- buy roses at Costco. Two dozen for $15.99.)

Have you tried these? Don't.
They were right across from the roses.
That's pretty sneaky, don't you think?

Have a beauty filled day.

Weekly Flowers

My roses are abundant this week. Of course, the tea roses start blooming and then it gets hot, and the red roses practically burn up before they even open. That's the way it is here on the Palouse. I planted 4 different red tea roses, then I discovered that they don't do very well in blazing sun and heat. So I turned to lighter colored tea roses. Turns out that the paler roses are particular favorites of thrips (those teeny tiny black bugs that you have to look at twice just to see). Thrips also like light colored clothing, lawn furniture, and light colored skin. Yes, they bite. I can honestly say that I hate them. Systemic insecticides don't touch them. They are too small and too numerous to pick off. Yes, I hate them. (Sorry kinda got off on a tangent there.)

I don't have any pictures of thrips--they are too tiny--about the size of two periods together, but I do have a picture of some other little pests. Can you tell me what they are? These little buggers aren't too bad this year which is good because I haven't really seen too many of their natural predators -- lady bug larvae.



The first round of blooms on my tea roses are usually bigger than the second round that comes on the end of August, but this year they are small because the canes (where most of the energy for the coming year is stored) were so damaged by the cold winter. So, the roses are blooming, but they aren't very big. Hopefully the next round will be nicer.

On another note, for the rest of this month I will continue to post daily, but usually only once a day. I have too many things to do this month! Instead of blogging I will be painting walls (next week hopefully), gardening (mornings and evenings), chasing kids (always), and sewing (maybe? wishful thinking--probably). I may post twice in one day if I have something I really want to share.

PS If you ever want any of my flower pictures without the "Almota Roses" stamp on them for a desktop background or print, just drop me an email and I would be happy to send you a high quality jpeg file.

Weekly Flowers

Christopher Marlowe English Rose

Grand Prize Floribunda

Honey Perfume Floribunda

Dream Weaver Climbing Rose

Sweet William

Blue Delphinium (single)

If anyone knows what these are called, please enlighten me! (they are about 3 ft tall, perennial, do well in part shade)

First Rose

Here is my first rose of the year. This is an antique moss rose that came from Randy's parents, who got the rose start from "back home" near Bonner's Ferry, ID. This rose was from one of Randy's grandparents' farms (I honestly cannot remember which one, sorry!) I love it not only because it has sentimental value, but because it blooms early and the smell is a heavenly rich damask rose scent.

Oh, and here is my "last" rose of the human sort. She smells heavenly too--at least most of the time!

Rose Care

With a nod to the big white fluffy flakes falling from the sky and littering my yard this morning, I am posting about rose care this morning. (Now, for cryin' out loud-- Go away!!!!) Last winter was hard on my beautiful babies. It didn't get particularly cold, but it was in the single digits and teens for a long time during the month of December and into January. I guess that is just as hard as the -10 to -20 degree F weather. Anyway, when I trimmed back my roses this spring, I had to trim nearly to the ground on some of them. So sad. That means I probably won't have tea roses blooming until late June or early July.

After I trimmed back my roses, I treated them all with this. All 24 of them. Yeah, I have a problem. This is why I have purposefully avoided the Jackson & Perkins catalog this spring. It is the Rose tag sale that gets me everytime.


It is a systemic fertilizer and insect and fungal control all in one. You apply it in the spring as the leaf buds are starting to show, then every 6 weeks afterward until about 4 weeks before you expect frost. I like it because of the ease of use. However, it does not seem to get thrips or earwigs. Those two pests do a number on my roses.

And here are my little garden helpers. It was such a nice day. I miss it.

To Cultivate

Cultivate: verb 1. to work the land, till. 2. to promote or improve the growth of by labor and attention. 3. to develop of improve by education or training: refine. 4. .....

Why am I writing about gardening? It is snowing outside, we haven't seen the sun in almost 2 weeks, the ground is frozen, and an inversion has kept the outside temperature between 23 and 28 degrees F for the whole week. I still have months to go before I can even start my seeds. But I can dream and plan. I can peruse my seed catalogs, order my seeds, look at pictures from last year's garden. I love to garden--to start the seeds, work the soil with my hands, work out my frustrations by weeding--cultivating. By gardening I cultivate patience, perseverance, and prayer.

I can't wait for spring. Randy laughs at me every year about this time when I start whining about spring. If we get a warm spell in February I start talking about bulbs coming up, rose leaves budding, starting tomato seedlings. He tells me not to get too excited--"It's a long time until spring on the Palouse". I know, I know!! But I can't help but get excited. How else do you survive the late winter doldrums? Besides...one of these times I will be right and we will have an early spring! I can always hope!

Here are some pictures from past years~~Enjoy~~and pray for an early spring!

Oh, and two more pictures of my other flowers!

PS--Happy 39th Anniversary Mom and Dad