In the great and grand scheme of all things gardening, this has not been my best summer. The deer ate most of the green beans. Hornworms attacked the grape tomatoes. I forget to water and the pickle vines wilt. And it has been hot. Way too hot for a Michigan summer garden.
Yesterday I tended the roses. Stirred the soil around their roots and put down new mulch. I cut back the Dortmunds again, just a little. It seems so late in the summer to be pruning, but with the additional heat units and a fall that will probably be much warmer, too, it seems the okay thing to do.
The roses have been the bright spot of the summer. Along with the daylilies, their abandonment to riots of color, and their blossom after blossom have made the flower beds a delight.
A poet would write an ode to late summer roses. As a gardener, I offer this image of a fall rose and its bud.
Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler
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