The Rose!

The rose is such a beautiful flower. It is no wonder that women get so excited every time they receive even a single one or a bouquet for a gift for a special occasion, or just because they are special.

I am not sure when I was really captivated by roses. I just know that I love them so much. Every time I see them, I feel so good and they make me so happy. That is one reason that I named my website Shabby Denim Rose.

I never remember my mother having roses in our yard when I lived at home as a child. She was a real garden person and really loved the yard work. She stayed outside all day long on weekends when she wasn’t working a job. Let’s say she had the green thumb. Everything that she touched in the yard was beautiful.

I wasn’t ever fond of working in the yard at all when I was young, so from the time that I was 11 years old until I married at 17 years old, I stayed inside and did most of her houswork while she and later my step-dad took care of the yard and flower beds. Never do I remember seeing roses in the garden though. She might have had some when I was very little but I don’t remember. I didn’t even go outside much at all to notice.

Later in years, she and my step-dad retired to a little country community and had 4 beautiful lots full of trees to care for. I know she thought she was in heaven having that much yard to care for. Some how she made that place look like a National Park. Even with so much shade around she still could manage to find flowers and plants that would grow so pretty. But still no rose bushes. Now that I am older and study so much about flowers and plants, I see that roses need lots of sunshine, so that might be why she had no roses there.

I was blessed to inherit her property after my step-father passed away in 2004. My mama passed away in 1998 and sadly, my Dad let the property go undone some, so the yard was nothing like she had it. No real beautiful flower beds anywhere. There was evidence of them being there, but over the 6 years that my Dad was alone, he did not bother with the beds that she loved. They used to always work in the gardens together and I am sure that brought so much heartache to him.

Needless to say that I was thrilled the first Spring my husband and I lived here on this property and saw the beautiful azeleas and dogwoods blooming!! We both shouted! But of course those only last through Spring. So after those beautiful blooms were gone, there was not much color here but the beautiful green trees and grass.

After living here for 5 years, we have managed to get us a few little flower beds going. Of course we had to just try and see what would grow since we knew very little. My husband and I had lived most our married life in apartments so we had very few chances at flower beds. It was times like these that I had wished that I had watched Mama in the garden or at least asked her some questions.

This year we had to cut 2 huge trees down due to some problems with them. Of course that made me sad because I love trees so much, but then we realized something one day. We now have sunshine in a place where we have never had sunshine before!

At that moment I could just vision some roses growing there. I pictured in my mind a cute little garden, so we started a mission to see it done. At our age, it took my husband and I three weeks to prepare the ground and do what we wanted to make it look nice. I was so thrilled when it was done. We really did not know what it would look like until we finished because we just created it as we went along. Finally before the hot weather set in, we completely our dream garden area.

Then I found 3 climbing rose bushes to put near a fence where the most sun shines all day, so we planted them with love. I wanted pink and white roses, but I could only find 2 yellow climbing, and 1 red climbing rose bushes. Since I love roses so much, I settled for that.

At this moment in my life, I am patiently waiting for them to grow. I read that in a year they will climb 6 -7 feet tall. I go outside every morning and look at them, pray, and thank God for allowing me this opportunity. I am trying to do all I have learned to do for roses, so the rest is up to Him.

My husband always brings me bouquets of roses sometimes for no occasion at all. I never know what color of roses he will come home with next. One day, I am looking forward to the day that he can go to the yard and bring me in a bouquet. My favorite are pink which is funny because red used to be my favorite when I was young. Maybe there is a meaning to that!