
Because my next post will be a “heavy” one, today I’m taking a break from the usual and sharing a bit of my real life with you. We’re deep into spring here in California. Roses, jasmine, and citrus are blooming, filling the air with delicious fragrances.
I’m a bit stressed right now and if I could, I would sit outside all day to take it in, but the best I can do is open all my windows and invite Spring to come inside. I feel this should inspire me to write, a poem at least, but I think I’m on sensory overload.
I hope you’ll enjoy the photos of my tangerine, roses, and jasmine in bloom. I hate the blurry thumbnails WordPress creates, so if you care to see any of the rose photos larger and clearer, just click on them. And my scarlet mini is not in bloom yet, so I’ve uploaded a photo from last November … ignore the frost! If you think you can identify any of my “mysteries” please do.

On second thought, though I love bringing the outdoors in, I had such good results sitting outside to edit on Sunday, maybe what I really need is to do that again. If I sit out in the scents and sun to relax both my body and my mind, who knows what beautiful words might come forth? Heck, I might even be able to concentrate enough to finish that short story, so my critique group won’t boot me out for lack of participation.
In other news: Keeping with the flower theme today, the erudite and witty Suzanne Conboy-Hill has bestowed upon this blog an award with this comment: “If anyone has helped my induction into the world of fiction-writing, it’s been you with your insightful and provocative posts, flock of contributors, and faithful supporters.” Imagine that!
In turn, I pass along this award to said flock of faithful supporters. If you like, take it and enjoy!
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ahhhhh….
Your roses are so lovely and just the inspiration I needed to step away from the computer for a few hours and spend this lovely spring morning working in my garden. It’s easy to see how loved your roses are by their healthy and vibrant blooms. From one rose grower to another, I bow my bonnet to you. 🙂
I couldn’t resist the sale our local nursery had this past week. I picked up a few new varieties, my husband extended my rose garden as a present for my birthday. He sure knows how to keep a girl happy!
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New roses, how exciting. What did you get? I still need one more red for my mini border. And since I’ve been writing seriously, my roses don’t get nearly the love they deserve. I’m surprised they haven’t quit blooming out of spite. 🙂 Oh, the photo of the Queen Elizabeth is not exactly representative of the typical bloom, as a Grandiflora, its blooms range from the one pictured to a full double and are borne singly or in small clusters. Mine grows to at least seven feet tall. Sadly, it has no scent.
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My recent additions are: Blue Girl, Christian Dior, Gold Glow, Gold Medal, Double Delight, Chicago Peace and yes I had to go buy a Queen Elizabeth after I looked it up online. Since the Queen has no scent I placed it toward the back of the garden. There she can grow tall and proud and no one will know she looks prettier than she smells.
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Oooo, I’m envious of your Double Delight. As I told Kayla, I’ve always wanted one. Maybe I’ll get one this year … hey, Mother’s Day is coming up. 🙂
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Oh Linda! You absolutely must get a Blue Girl! The blooms are fragrant and the lilac/blue tinted color is delicious! Mine bloomed this morning. I’ll snap pictures.
I’m still waiting on the Double Delight to bloom.
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I’ll look for it at the nursery. The one nearest my house specializes in roses and every time I pass it, I hear them calling my name. :
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Wow, these are gorgeous! But the ‘scratch ‘n sniff’ feature isn’t working! I’ll just have to imagine the scent.
And the thought of having a tangerine tree. I love the jasmine. My Carolina jasmine is getting ready to burst out in flower in a week or so.
Thanks for the beauty.
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What?! You mean my new virtual reality blog feature isn’t working? 😀
I have two varieties of seedless tangerine, both were supposed to be dwarf, but one doesn’t know that. The taller one has the most delicious fruit, but last year we had a week or more of 100 temps in May and being new to citrus, I didn’t know I needed to give them extra water during that period, so it dropped all it’s fledgling fruit. I was very disappointed. I’m watching it carefully this year.
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Linda! Those are gorgeous. Thank you for posting so many pictures – they make me wish for a house, a garden, a kitchen window with pretty flowers up the side of the wall.
I’m sitting outside right now, too, so I can almost imagine all those lovely smells and colors surrounding me. (Unfortunately, in reality, there’s a man on a riding lawnmower who just might run me over here in a few minutes. It’s almost good, because he’s drowing out the 9:16am rap music wake-up call blaring from another window in the courtyard.)
Sorry you’ve been stressed lately. Hopefully Spring will be contagious and make you feel refreshed as you keep reading, writing, and editing! 🙂
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Have you no sunny spot for a rose? A tree rose beside your front door maybe? A Double Delight would be nice. I’ve always wanted one of those beside my front door, but haven’t managed it yet. I’m lucky to live in a quiet neighborhood. Mowers, edgers, and blowers is about the only usual noise. I stepped outside this morning before dawn to listen to the bird chorus. Nice way to start the day.
I take the blame for my stress. There’s too much on my mind at once; I need a mental diet. 🙂
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Sadly, sunny spots are hard to come by where I live right now. We’re in a little apartment, and our porch faces a lovely courtyard full of trees. The trees are beautiful, but we don’t get much direct light…and our front door is in one of those dark-ish apartment hallways. *Sigh.* Maybe I could try one of the tree rose you mentioned on the sunniest part of our porch. Or, maybe I’ll just wait until we move somewhere with more sun! 🙂 Hopefully that day won’t be too far away!
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Your roseless (and noisy) existence makes me sad 😦 but hopeful :-)!
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Ohhhh, the jasmine. Yesterday I picked a bunch and have them all over my house. They last a long time in a vase of water. Now there is a storm raging outside and the inside smells like spring.
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Lucky. The rain is pelting the Margaret Merrill outside my window and I wish I’d cut some yesterday.
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Your garden is so nice. I love the jasmin and the tangerine tree. Must be great to write with this parfume around.
Here in Québec, Springtime is nice to. But we don’t have this exotic culture. So I enjoy your roses and your poésie.
Amitié
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Good morning, Mireille! You have been so quiet lately. I love that you termed this perfume exotic, it reminded me of a poem I have yet to finish about dreaming of Marrakesh. I hope Spring in Quebec inspires you as well.
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