Pointe du Hoc During our recent trip to France, we used Bayeux as a base to explore Normandy, especially the Omaha Beach area. We spent two days driving mile after mile along back roads through the idyllic French countryside, past farms and through villages on the way to Omaha Beach. Cliffs at Point du Hoc One of the venues high on our trip list was Pointe du Hoc, a 110-foot cliff jutting out into the English Channel located about 4 miles west of the center of Omaha Beach. Artillery Bunker World War II German fortifications built along this prominent cliff top location included a series of def ..read more

Rose Rose Disease Foliage at Rest Stop in Maryland Our first up-close sighting of Rose Rosette Disease (RRD) was during a trip to Washington, DC and nearby mid-Atlantic areas a few years ago. RRD was everywhere, in private gardens and especially in median strips and in other public plantings where it apparently went unnoticed and unmanaged. Whole beds were infected. We had been aware of it but had not seen any evidence of it at home in Rhode Island so we were less concerned. That would change when two years later we noticed infected multiflora (a common species or wild rose) roses growing nex ..read more

Atlantic Seaweed In November each year, I start my special seaweed compost using fallen maple and oak leaves and fresh Atlantic seaweed. I follow the most common formula for backyard composting by mixing three parts leaves  ̶  the carbon or brown material  ̶   to one part seaweed  ̶  the nitrogen or green material. I add water to keep the pile moist and aeration to provide oxygen for the microorganisms to do their work (Google for more specific composting details and explanations).   While I add raw vegetative kitchen waste, egg shells, tea bags, coffee ..read more

Purple Tiger Striped roses, vivid streaks of two colors on the same bloom, add a colorful accent to a rose garden. Last spring, we planted two striped varieties in formal urns in front of one of our rose beds as focal points. Since we wanted something bright and striking, we selected two contrasting striped varieties, Purple Tiger and Scentimental. Importantly, these dazzling floribundas also have a compact mature growth habit well-suited to container growth. Purple Tiger, a mauve blend (Christensen, 1991), is not a new introduction, but I love its purple and white blooms that produced dramati ..read more

Sitting Pretty Rose (Photo Courtesy of Will Radler) Selecting rose varieties to add to our garden is often a difficult decision. There’s only so much room and too many luscious roses to choose from. But this year, we decided to go with a few of the low maintenance roses bred by Will Radler, the breeder of Knock Out roses. Will has produced over 40 low maintenance roses over the years in addition to his well- known Knock Out varieties. This year we will be adding 3 of his roses to our garden, including his 2021 introduction ‘Sitting Pretty’. Sitting Pretty (Photo Courtesy of Will Radler) Sitti ..read more

‘Eustacia Vye’ (Photo by David Austin Roses) This year, David Austin Roses celebrates English novelist Thomas Hardy with two new English roses for American and Canadian Gardeners –  ‘Eustacia Vye’, and ‘Gabriel Oak’. These fragrant, vigorous and disease resistant varieties are available in 2021 only by mail order from davidaustinroses. They will be carried in garden centers starting in Spring 2022. Eustacia Vye: ‘Eustacia Vye’ is a medium shrub that grows 4 feet tall by 3 feet wide. It produces rosette-shaped mid-pink to apricot flowers with a strong, fruity fragrance that contain approxi ..read more

June Bloom in Chute’s Garden It’s early February and the coldest time of the year, the landscape is still and winter’s long post-holiday shadow has drifted in. Despite the pall cast by the corona pandemic, Angelina and I are optimistically planning for the upcoming year that includes our 2021 Lecture Series, additional writing, and catching up on delayed projects. Since in-person lectures are not currently possible, we have converted all of our programs to virtual formats like Zoom. We have been presenting Zoom programs for the past several months and will continue to do so for, at least, the ..read more

One of our novel purchases from our first trip to London is a matted collection of Cigarette Rose Cards we found at the Portobello Market, London’s oldest street market. While wandering around this huge antiques market one Saturday morning, we were amazed at the collection of antiques, vintage clothing, jewelry, artwork, food, ceramics, and books. Portobello Market stretches for 2 miles and, on a Saturday, streets are closed to make room for more than 1200 stalls that set up in the street and down small mews and alleys. Portobello Market It was down one of these mews that we discovered a stal ..read more

Besides roses, we have beds of other flowers including annuals that give color all season and where we also slip in a couple of rows of string beans, some basil and one tomato plant. Just one. No matter what variety of tomato we plant, they all ripen in August and that one plant yields a tsunami of fruit quickly. A sprig of basil and a slice of mozzarella cheese added to a thick slice of fresh tomato and a glass of chilled white wine creates a summertime treat. This season, after a hiatus of a few years, we added sunflowers to this eclectic side garden. We planted seeds in early June only to ..read more

The Louvre Like many of you, Mike and I have been home bound since March. Back then, events we would normally attend, such as flower shows, were cancelled and non-essential businesses were closed along with our favorite restaurants. Since our two favorite things are traveling and roses (and going out to eat), we felt at loose ends. But we cancelled our trip to Santa Fe as well as all our lectures and concentrated on staying well and following the guidelines as they changed day to day. Things would get better and, as everyone said, “we’ll get through this.” June Bloom in Chute’s Garden We staye ..read more