Happy 4th of July! Hope you have a fabulous holiday.
With celebration in the air, it’s an ideal time to tell you about a few things — garden related, of course — also deserving of celebratory mention:
W. Kordes Sohne in Germany has been breeding and selling roses since 1887, but it wasn’t until the late 1980’s that the nursery adopted a new focus: establishing a breeding line of very healthy roses grown without chemical pesticides. Kordes garden roses must now endure seven-year trials for disease-resistance, fragrance, flowering and vigor. Only those meeting the highest performance standards are selected for introduction.
I grow a number of these special roses, and in my organic garden they meet every expectation.
Because I am in the process of switching from slide to digital-photo presentations, at a recent slide-lecture, “Growing Roses Organically”, I didn’t have slides of two favorite Kordes roses. I welcome the opportunity to feature them in this Post:
Rosa ‘Zaide‘, a tall shrub rose introduced in 2007, was recommended to me by the owner of Palatine Roses. (Palatine offers the largest selection of disease-free Kordes roses in North America: www.palatine roses.com) I love everything about Zaide. She blooms in abundance until frost, is winter hardy, has healthy foliage and yummy fragrance, and her flowers are gorgeous from bud to full bloom. (Photos below)
copyright 2014 – Lois Sheinfeld
copyright 2014 – Lois Sheinfeld
Ditto for the enchanting climber, Rosa ‘Jasmina’, introduced in 2005. Moreover, add Gold and Silver Awards in international competitions and the coveted ADR award. [ADR (Allgemeine Deutsche Rosenneuheitenprufung) winners are chosen after three-year trials without plant-protection sprays, in eleven different geographic areas in Germany; they are evaluated for disease resistance, winter-hardiness, abundance of flowers, flower form, fragrance and growth habit. The Common Core of the plant world!] (Jasmina photos below)
copyright 2014 – Lois Sheinfeld
copyright 2014 – Lois Sheinfeld
Finally, a word about a pig. After many years of trials and tribulations in the garden, namely, introducing a Piggy planter to a never-ending selection of new plants and new locations with wretched results, at last we hit upon a winner. Every Spring we fill a cedar container with butterfly loving lantana, but when the container didn’t survive last winter’s brutal assault and we could not find a suitable cedar replacement, Piggy was drafted.
EUREKA! Some Pig! (Homage to E.B. White)
copyright 2014 – Lois Sheinfeld
Let the celebrations begin.