Reve D'Or

I have written before about the local roses people.  It was not until I went looking for the link I realized it had been a couple years; trust me I head over there more than once every couple years.  & about a year ago I went & bought several different roses including Reve D'Or.

I chose Reve D'Or on the basis of it being a climber that could handle some shade.  We had removed a diseased (three, actually) cedar tree from the backyard & two live oak volunteers were coming in nicely more or less in the same spot as two of them, but because it is a spot we mow & walk & so forth, we know we would be removing any low branches that made an appearance & keeping most of the area around quite clear.  & I thought wouldn't a nice climbing rose in one of those old cut-down whiskey barrels be just the thing?  & it was.

I did a little (very little) research, but mostly I asked the antique rose lady.  She actually recommended Maggie, a lovely Bermuda that I did purchase but put elsewhere (& she is doing fine), but I got to liking Reve D'Or.

While this is Reve D'Or's second year in the barrel (just beginning her second year), the complete lack of any substantial freeze means she has had plenty of grow time.  & she has given our very healthy potting mix an A++; the lower 2/3rds of the barrel are filled with greenhouse dried manure (what else can you do with all that manure & a greenhouse the hits 120-136 most of August?) & the top 3rd is whatever that rich mix is right in front of the barn where all the animals run & the rain seems to gather off the roof on the day I shovel it into the barrel.  After the heavy rain last week & the days of sunshine since she is showing a new bud & bloom almost every day.

Not entirely unrelated, last week was that one-of-two-weekends a year that is my most favorite days of the year:  the Friends of the Library Book Sale.   & yes, I did some damage in the horticulture section, specifically old world roses, new world roses, roses generally & so on.  Not a single quilting book in my bag when I got home, but still I am happy.  I am especially happy with Shrub Roses & Climbing Roses by David Austin, circa 1993 (it cast 75 cents).  Of my newly beloved Reve D'Or he says "a first class climber " YAY & lists her birthdate as 1869.  She is the daughter of Madame Schultz & a granddaughter of Lamarque.

I feel a new obsession coming on.  Okay it has been coming on for a while.  Now I feel its grip.