Morning Glories: The Understated Rose Garden

Seeds of Wisdom

"It is always exciting to open the door and go out into the garden for the first time on any day." Marion Cran
"When in the fresh mornings I go into my garden before anyone is awake, I go for the time being into perfect happiness." Celia Thaxter
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Cicero
"He who owns a garden, However small it be, Whose hands have planted in it Flower or bush or tree; He who watches patiently The growth from nurtured sod, Who thrills at newly opened bloom Is very close to God." Katherine Edelman
"Like a big mountain, a small garden stimulates, restores, and delights us, just as it poses challenges, promotes mastery, provides exercise and relieves monotony." Winifred Gallagher
"Though an old man I am but a young gardener." Thomas Jefferson
"A garden is never so good as it will be next year." Thomas Cooper
"Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas." Eizabeth Murray
"God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done." Author Unknown

The rose garden that sits just outside the back door is simple and understated this year:

It includes a container of mint and a container of pink impatiens:

Alyssum in pink with deeper hues at the edges of the petals:

And, of course, the white roses:

The "spring" gardening push came late for me this year, so I just put the alyssum in about a week ago. It should fill in by the end of the season. I like the way the green pots sit right in the garden with the color of the containers playing off the green foliage, and the way the pinks of the alyssum and impatiens create a color duet. This continues the pink-white-green color combination I like so much in this garden as expressed in last year's Overview & Evaluation at the end of the season.

Alas, last year's temperamental clematis 'Freckles' did not reappear to redeem itself this year. And the cosmos, which provided so much enjoyment as documented here, here, here, here and here, did not re-seed themselves. And the hypoestes (an annual or tender perennial) did not come back. So other than the roses (which, after all, are the basis for the garden) it's a whole new scene this year -- simple and sweet!