Friday, June 14, 2013

The Perfect Scent of Spring

Sunday was a rare, sunny day, and time to visit Binghamton, New York's gem of a small (and free!) botanical garden, Cutler Botanical Garden.  It's become a Ramblin with AM tradition to visit and blog abut Cutler when the old fashioned roses are in bloom.  But this time I decided to do something new and exciting - record their names!

We've had such a soggy spring that we treasure the rare sunny days.  Yesterday we were under a flood watch. We lucked out.  But if it keeps raining, Cutler is in a flood prone location.

 Cutler has some wonderful landscaping, and this gazebo walk is at its best when the roses are in bloom.

Let's start with the damask roses.  These are ancient in origin, and have a strong fragrance.  I wish I had smell-o-blog so I could bring these fragrances to you.  This white gem is Mme. Hardy, bred in 1832.
The York and Lancaster damask rose - this dates from the 1400's, and was a symbol of the end of the English "War of the Roses" between the Houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose). (I invite you to read the story of its origin - how much is legend, and how much is truth?)
 
This is a different type of rose, the Gallica.  This variety,  'Cardinal de Richelieu', dates from 1840.

But even with me taking pictures and emailing them to myself with titles, I still have a mystery on my hands.  I emailed this to myself as "Moss Rose Salerno". If I try to look this up, all I come up with is portulacas (moss roses) or a bunch of women named "Rose Salerno".  I "think" this may be a gallica rose.  Your guess is no doubt better than mine.

You could spend a lifetime studying roses. It's been a long time since I've grown roses - I just had too much trouble trying to do it organically,  especially when the Japanese Beetles strike.  I also don't have too many areas in full sun.  I'm glad that someone can grow them it for me.


Kudos, once again, to the master gardeners of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Service, who maintain Cutler Botanical Gardens.


Tomorrow is the 15th of the month and is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, so I will not have my normal Sustainable Saturday post.  Sustainable Saturday will return next Saturday.

8 comments:

  1. I just wrote about the old roses in my garden. When I went to look up a name, souvenier du dr jermain, I lost all my words. Never mind. That dark almost black rose was rescued in an abandoned French garden. Outside the study, the blousy climber mme. Yves Perrier has at least a hundred buds, waiting for a warm day before it flowers. I enjoyed the ramble through the gardens with you.

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  2. What beautiful images! Thank you so much for sharing. The only rose that I know the history of is the Harrison rose. It's everywhere out here. Apparently people took cuttings along with them on the Oregon trail. When they'd stop for a while, they'd plant the cuttings. Then they'd take new cuttings and leave the plant behind when they moved on. It's the only rose that would successfully grow in the area where I grew up, and my grandpa loved having them in his yard. I always think of him when I see them.

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  3. Gorgeous ... and not a sign of a Japanese beetle anywhere!

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  4. Those are some very lovely photos and it looks like a very nice place to just relax. I also learned something new about Roses that I didn't know. Thank you for the helpful information. :)

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  5. LOVE that gazebo! It looks so beautiful and peaceful. Great photos!

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  6. What beautiful images and lovely tidbits of information. I love the smell-o-blog idea! There are many times I'd like to have that option, too!

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  7. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Roses! It is still too early to have them bloom where I am living, so a HUGE thank you for sharing your pictures!

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  8. Wow! What a beautiful selection of pictures. It makes me want to sit in my garden, I may have to grab my coat! (It's cold)

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