Joy comes in the morning

[mme_hardy]

 My daughter got into a Masters of Social Work program.  Hurrah!

When my favorite local nursery, Roger Reynolds was closing three years ago, I went to their going-out-of-business sale.  One of the things I came home with was the wonderful red climbing rose Don Juan.   I had the gardeners put in a drip line to the side of the house, under our bedroom.  Then we had a three-year severe drought, during which I was too sick to garden.   The sprinkler system failed at least once, and a lot of our plants died.  I assumed Don Juan had died, but was afraid to check.  This morning I put on my rose-pruning gloves, trained the climbing Devoniensis  --also known as 'Victoria', 'Magnolia Rose', and, in Charleston, 'Tradd Street Rose'-- shoots onto the garden gate, did some hasty pruning of my two apple trees, and then was brave enough to venture into the alley on the side of the house.

Don Juan is in exuberant good health, covered with buds, and higher than my head.  Hurrah!  Must give thought to a permanent trellis, since Don Juan grows to 12-14 feet.  For once, I have a large plant in the right place: 12 feet will bring the blossoms just as high as our window.

This year's new rose -- I restrained myself -- is Lyda Rose, a variegated single rose with a wonderful fragrance that thrives in shade.  I've put it in the corner of the hedge and the fence.  It, too, is very happy.

Comments

[ironed_orchid]

Great news, on both counts.

Deh vieni alla finestra, o mio tesoro

[movingfinger]

I assume that all the jokes about Don Juan beneath your window have been made and there is no need to think about them...

Re: Deh vieni alla finestra, o mio tesoro

[mme_hardy]

You are the first to make the association!

Re: Deh vieni alla finestra, o mio tesoro

[movingfinger]

Here's Bryn Terfel styling some of the finest singing and worst fake lute playing imaginable.

And here's Tassis Christoyannis playing air lute.


And good lord, Lyda Rose is named for a song too, the lyric and melody just came together in my head on auto-play there. Are you running a theme garden?

[kore]

Aww, congratulations on how both are flourishing!

[rachelmanija]

Don Juan is beautiful.

Please tell your daughter congrats for me, and that we really REALLY need more good social workers. A lot of them are terrible but the good ones are gems, so she will shine.

[mme_hardy]

Thank you so much. I'm very proud of her, and the school she got into, San Jose State, is very well suited to her because the program focuses specifically on "Latinos, other minority groups, and those communities, groups, families, and individuals who are disenfranchised, oppressed, and/or marginalized. " She herself is a lesbian, and started studying Spanish earlier this year so that she could make progress toward serving that community.

Re: Deh vieni alla finestra, o mio tesoro

[mme_hardy]

Hee! Lyda Rose is named after the breeder's daughter, Lyda, and the song, hence the odd spelling. And no, I theme my garden around "does it smell good, or is it blue?"

[nineveh_uk]

Congratulations to your daughter! And to Don Juan, the eternal survivor.

[rachelmanija]

Excellent! I'm glad that exists (and she exists.)

Spanish will make her very employable if she can attain fluency. I was lucky to be hired not knowing it; about half the staff at my agency are English-Spanish bilingual. (Some are bilingual in other languages, but there's immense demand for Spanish.)

[batwrangler.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! and also, yay!

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Wonderful news all around! So happy about Don Juan.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Congrats to daughter!

What lovely roses.

[pameladean]

Congratulations to your daughter, and to you too!

And I am very happy for you and your roses. Lyda Rose is just lovely; and, like all roses that I covet, is hardy to Zone 5.

Don Juan is a real stunner as well but wouldn't suit my yard as well.

P.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Awww, congrats to your daughter! That's wonderful.

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

It is very, very strange living in California, where the head-high shrub beside my front door is a jade plant.

After years of gardening in New England, it's a shock.

[pameladean]

Yes, one of the first things I saw when I first visited California was a jade plant approximately the size of a Volkswagen Bug. What IS that, I thought, it looks familiar, but -- yikes! I felt as if somebody had shrunk me and put me into a miniature.

P.

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

When I first moved here, I kept saying, "That's a house plant!" Not here it's not. On the other hand, we can't grow good apples; not enough chill. On the other other hand, peaches, plums, nectarines, almonds, olives ... This used to be known as the Valley of Heart's Delight, before they put the Silicon in; nothing but flowering orchards as far as the eye could see.