Proverbs and Petunias: chicago peace rose

Monday, May 18, 2009

Perfumes are the feelings of flowers. ~Heinrich Heine

I haven't really had much going on lately. Seems like the only thing that's got any "get up and go" is the roses. Seems like everyday I have another bloom. I do have to say that it tends to be the best part of my day. Walking outside and seeing whats germinating or blooming. And the roses never disappoint. Its always a surprise when that little bud appears. I did not label or write down what is where. Mostly because I didn't want to go all OCD and obsess over what colors looked good together. I just let it flow where it happened to flow. So far it has worked out pretty good.

I am sad to say that I have absolutely no idea which one this is. Maybe Tropicana???

This is the World famous Peace Rose. The bloom is HUGE!!!! My husband asked me yesterday if I had looked at it. I hadn't so he proceeded to tell me that the lone bloom was as big as his fist! If you knew my husband you would now that him saying this was a BIG DEAL! He never ever pays any attention to flowers unless they really stand out. So when he told me that I ran back and looked at it and sure enough that baby was as big as a man's fist.
Some of you may have noticed that the bloom looks a lot like the Angelique Tulips I had posted previously. ??? I love both the rose and the Tulip so its pretty cool!
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- From Wikipedia.

The Peace rose is the most famous and successful garden rose of all time. Over one hundred million plants had been sold, as of 1992. It is a Hybrid Tea rose with very large flowers and a light yellow to cream color. It is very hardy and resistant to disease making it popular in gardens as well as in the floral trade (Beales).
It was developed by French horticulturist Francis Meilland in the years 1935 to 1939. When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. The rose became known as 'Peace' in the following way. Early 1945 Meilland wrote to Field Marshal Alan Brooke (later Viscount Alanbrooke), the principal author of the master strategy that won Second World War, to thank him for his key part in the liberation of France and to ask if Brooke would give his name to the rose. Brooke declined saying that, though he was honored to be asked, his name would soon be forgotten and a much better and more enduring name would be "Peace".
The name "Peace" is a trade name; its formal cultivar name is Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'. The adoption of the trade name "Peace" was publicly announced in the United States on 29 April 1945 by the introducers, Messrs Conard Pyle Co.. This was the very day that Berlin fell, officially considered the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note which read:
"We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".
Peter Beales, English rose grower and expert, said in his book Roses:
"'Peace', without doubt, is the finest Hybrid Tea ever raised and it will remain a standard variety forever".

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This is the Chicago Peace Rose a variant of the Peace rose. I had questioned whether to buy roses that were pretty much sisters, but thankfully they look very different! The peace rose looks more white right now and the Chicago Peace is more pink.

This one looks a lot like the rose at top. once again I am wondering if it is Tropicana. I think the chances are better that this one is since it looks more coral than the more pink one at top.

Ummm... wondering if maybe I should have labeled them... oh well.

One of the lilies received on Mother's Day from my mom!

Too much fertilizer was making my hydrangeas not bloom so now that I have laid off of it, its blooming!!! If your hydrangeas are very very green, but no blooms . Too much nitrogen could be your problem.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat. ~ Beverley Nichols

For weeks my husband has promised me that he was going to take me to a nursery. Well, last weekend was the best time because he owed me a Mother's day gift : ) So I was actually able to buy something. Of course when we got to the one that I had been really wanting to go to.. it was SO expensive! Like 6 marigold's was $15! I definitely couldn't pay that. I know that nurseries are always more expensive and I'm sure that there quality was alot better than, say... Wal-mart or Lowe's. But I had to draw a line. I mean these were annuals! Perennials I will pay a little more, but not annuals.

I was sorely upset but thankfully I was able to find the Hydrangea "Limelight" that I had seen the last time I had been there. So I bought that. A disappointing trip, considering I had been waiting so long to go back.

On the way back though we found a little Country Store that made the entire trip worth while. It was small and it had any kind of preserved food you could think of. But what made it so great was all the flowers outside the store. We had not been there very long when I spotted the biggest, most beautiful rose I had ever seen. Plus it smelled like Heaven! There was no price on it so we had to ask someone (I hate that). But when the guy came over and we asked him he pointed at the huge sign behind us that said ROSES $12.99. OK before you start wondering about my intelligence. It was Mother's day and I assumed (you know what they say about assume?) that since the price was so low that it had to be cut roses. After I got over the embarrassment I grabbed that big red rose (Janice Kellogg rose) and searched for another one to go with it. That's when I found the "Liv Tyler" rose. I have been wanting one and to find it that big for $12.99, well, it was very exciting! I was still on the lookout for Bee Balm, but I had pretty much reached my limit after the Hydrangea and the roses!