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| Ruby spice |
I was gathering roses for yesterday's service when I was stopped by a powerful, intense, and unexpected fragrance. I was used to various delights during the summer, but this was...could it be? Yes, my biggest Clethra, now a giant shrub, was sending out the sweetest, most cinnamon aroma. The tiny flowers were gone, but the butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees had enjoyed their stay. No wonder they are called
- Summersweet,
- Sweet pepperbush,
- Coastal sweet pepperbush, and
- Sweet spice.
Three Enchanted Peace roses had a terrible time with Japanese beetles and then drought, but they began blooming in earnest in the last week. They are prolific, already at 7 feet, fragrant, and always displaying a variety of colors.
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| Veterans Honor continues to be the star of all red roses. Two more opened up today.  My neighbor says, "They are so delicate and beautiful, they don't look real." The David Austin English roses had a tough summer and I was expecting very few more. I glanced out the back door and saw 10 roses, two different colors, and fragrant beyond belief. I cut them for the vase and passed them to the neighbor. Their three daughters love the roses. The oldest had to hold back her tears when she got her first vase of roses a few months ago. |
