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I have fallen in love with this rose, as much as one can I believe. She’s La Reine Victoria, a Bourbon Rose, bred in France in 1872. I planted the bareroot in early spring 2004, the rose grew tremendously that year, but did not bloom at all. I feel as though I am being rewarded for my patience and I’m certainly appreciative. This is one of the two true ‘old garden’ roses I have, the other is Louise Odier. She’s also a French Bourbon, even older being bred in 1851.

As much as I adore the ‘new’ “old” roses, those being the ones bred by David Austin in England, there’s something so esoterically satisfying about having these true old roses. I definitely need to find room for more… and find where I can purchase them and not go utterly bankrupt in the process.

I planted strawberries last year, they did little but stand in the dirt. This year, well, it was an absolute invasion. They’re June Bearing, today is the 1st of June, and coincidently my very first strawberry would have been ripe today. I almost picked it yesterday, but I decided I would wait, well, something -or- someone beat me to it. I went looking for it this afternoon, to enjoy the oh so lovely sweetness that only food grown in your garden can have, and it was gone! I never imagined I would be so irritated over the loss of a single tiny piece of fruit, who would have thought?