Pretty in Pink - Toot Sweet 4 Two

Pretty in Pink

My rose garden is Pretty in Pink throughout the spring and summer, often late into fall and even winter – bursting with roses in bloom, mostly in shades of pink! I have taken literally 1,000’s of pictures of them over the last several months since getting my fancy, dancy camera for Christmas (see: Christmas Surprise). Here are a few; I’ve limited today’s photos to twelve and only to pink!

I am blessed to have a rather large rose garden. It wasn’t of my own doing, but rather my aunt’s – my mother’s twin. She put her house up for sale two years ago to transition from independent living to assisted living. She had more than 80 roses bushes in pots around her yard and a few planted in the ground. She loved her roses and fretted that whoever purchased her house wouldn’t take care of them and that they would die. To ease her anxiety, I offered to rent a truck (she lived 75 miles away) and hired the neighbor’s son to drive with me to her house and bring the potted roses to my house. So, we did!

We rented a large 16-foot+ trunk with an enclosed bed and a lift. Using a dolly and our own brute strength {grin}, we huffed and puffed until we got all 80+ rose bushes to my home. It took two loads over two days and the 80+ pots stayed in our driveway for several weeks and my husband, Charlie, faithfully watered them. Then, we hired a landscaping company to install a sprinkler system and plant the roses. So, my “free” roses cost beaucoup bucks between the trunk rental, the neighbor’s son and the landscaping team! But, we have a beautiful rose garden full of memories!

The “memories” start back with my maternal grandmother, Dorothy. She loved roses and always had a large rose garden. She was known for her “rose hip jelly”, a gelatinous concoction of the seed pods, “hips”, formed by roses that are left to die on the stem. These “hips” are boiled and tons of sugar added, along with pectin and voilà, you have rose hip jelly. It was one of the few things she enjoyed making (she didn’t like to cook) and she would give jars of rose hip jelly as gifts throughout the year.

So, here’s my Pretty in Pink show for you today:

Mother of Pearl Rose – Pretty in Pink

These stunning roses are called “Mother of Pearl”. When we first moved into our house 5 years ago, I wanted a rose garden, but thought it would be several years until we were able to plant one {grin – what did I know?}. So, I decided I wanted five of the same rose bushes planted on one side of our house. I found these stunners at a local nursery and planted them. They are prolific, providing an endless show most of the year!

The Rose Garden – Pretty in Pink

I took the photo above about 2 years ago with my iPhone camera (pre fancy, dancy camera). This shows part of the newly planted rose garden with my aunt’s roses plus the swallows swirling around. Don’t know about our swallows? Well, you can read about them here:

My Rose Garden – Pretty in Pink

I love the picture above. Even though it’s not a “close-up,” it shows the different glorious colors of my rose garden in the fuzzy background!

Cream and Pink Rose – Pretty in Pink

I’m sorry to say that I don’t know the names of my aunt’s roses. None of her roses had markers attached, so I’d have to guess based on research. I attempted to do this several years ago when they were first planted, but gave up after a few hours! Who needs names anyway? They don’t need no stinkin’ names! They are just plain ol’ gorgeous roses providing endless enjoyment with their beauty! Here are the rest of the “no name” roses, Pretty in Pink!