Roses in Bloom

I love this time of year when the roses start to really bloom. I pruned most of my bushes this spring--scaring a few with my unstoppable clipping perhaps. They look a little small...but I know they will be full and pretty soon. So far so good as far as the tent caterpillars go this year. They have been terrible the past few years eating my bushes down to the stalks. We are prepared this year....and are determined not to lose any bushes to them and their incredible destruction.

This is what the roses from my huge bush out back look like up close--they are rugosas. Though they are not the fancy kind but are hearty and fragrant and beautiful.This is what we see from our deck. We have a lot that extends a good distance in from the road. Mom brought literally a stick about a foot long to us from Maine about 4 years ago. It was October, and I wasn't sure it would survive. I planted it with banana peels and so hoped that it would make it since it was something from Maine and reminds me of the salt mist roses seen along the coast--a wonderful remembrance of growing up there. Well, not only did it survive, but it has flourished into this huge bush taller than I am. It smells wonderful, is hearty, and I just love the mass of green covered with pink. What a delight to look out back and see this...and I bet you can almost smell them!