Rose flowering time!
It's happened again. I've been away from the garden for just two days - the first two days of November. But the roses have noticed the date - November 1st. In New Zealand this sets them off. It's rose flowering time! And they are determined to shame me for my absence.
Phyllis Bide Roses
Woo hoo! Wake up, everyone! Let's all start flowering, all at once, no stragglers. Here's the plan - try and bloom sneakily for at least a week without her noticing, that sort of thing. Tra la la...
Pink roses? Follow Mary Rose's lead. Let's all surprise our lazybones gardener! Yellows and lemons? Just do it.
Think tall...
Here's an idea - think tall! Get as high on your shrub as you can - more chance that she's too busy searching the ground for weeds to notice you at all.
Rugosas? Get those pretty blooms going quickly, with no fuss. By the time she comes looking with her camera your first flush should almost be over, hee hee. That'll teach her to be so unobservant.
Memo to all other roses. Remember this - she doesn't even bother spraying you for aphids or black spot. So no guilt if you flower quietly in a forgotten corner. Maybe she doesn't deserve you?
In the past she may have described you as one of her 'favourites'. Don't believe a word of it. That includes you, Pat Austin. And you, Crepuscule - just because you're both so beautifully apricot in colour. All us roses must stick together - even the pale, insignificant ones...