Nyel Trims the Roses

On Sunday, Nyel gave our roses a much needed trim. Not the York roses or the Dorothy Perkins – although both of those varieties could use a little TLC. It’s the No Name roses growing up the side of the house near the kitchen walkway.

They, like that entire area of the garden, have been much neglected this year. I find myself apologizing to them each time I go out to feed the chickens. Still… they have given us some absolutely gorgeous bouquets and there are promises of more. Or at least of a bud vase’s worth now and then.

I remember this garden when my grandmother was old. It had mostly gone to dandelions and grass – not lawn type grass, but meadow grass. You know… the kind that looks great out in the fields but is all wrong in amongst the flower beds. I wonder if it bothered her as much as it bothers me now that I am even older than she ever was.

Or maybe she really didn’t notice. She was blind throughout my early childhood. It was only a few years before her death that she was able to have her cataracts removed. It was a brand new procedure. She flew to New York and was in the hospital for almost a month – her head immovable between sandbags for ten days after each eye was done. When the bandages came off, she was amazed at the colorful tie her doctor wore – a new fashion statement from her day.

Fit for a Bud Vase

For whatever reason – maybe simply that I was too young to realize – I never heard my gentle granny complain about her garden going to seed… or anything else, for that matter. I should aspire to be more like her in that respect. She was a worrier and a fretter, much as I am, but she was never a complainer.

On the plus side, the dahlias and daisies persevere, tall grass or no tall grass. Maybe next year we can find reliable garden help. Lord knows we tried this year. Whoops! Was that a complaint that just slipped out?