I quite like the tweet alerts from both @NYBG and @bklynbotanic that keep you updated on what's going on or peaking. I wish I could have reacted immediately to the latter's update on June 3rd - The Cranford Rose Garden is the most beautiful I've ever seen it. Rain, rain and more rain kept me away until a couple of days ago when I managed to squeeze in a quick visit. Although there was plenty to enjoy, many of the roses had just tipped over their best. I took a quick snap of the Veilchenblau which was already looking pretty tatty but looking at the photo, I'm reminded why I wanted a record of it. The blooms really have an interesting range of colors. I've learnt that it's called the blue rose- which it really isn't quite, but it does some really beautiful tones of mauves on the way to a grayish violet- and what I love is that all the flowers are slightly different shades and tones.
One of the climbers is really on its way out in Mamaroneck, it's got some kind of disease, and this might very well be it's replacement. I always thought that you couldn't plant a rose in the same spot that another had been, but on doing some research, that may only be true for the UK and not here in the US. There's also some measures to take to prevent any risk of this - so I'm going to be on the lookout for this.
+ GreenKraft:Stone Leaves
