The Queen Of All Flowers

God was smiling when He created the rose. It's beloved the world over, and it gives joy to its growers, those who give it as a gift, and to those sweethearts who receive them. In my garden, I have 42 rose bushes. Most of them are of the hybrid tea type--which is the most difficult to care for. Hybrid teas are a hybrid of tea roses which originated in China and Hybrid Perpetuals from Europe. They require pruning, fertilizing, water, and--most challenging--pest control. But their blooms are regal, and--thanks to the efforts of many large commercial nurseries--they're available in a cavalcade of colors.

Because hybrid tea roses are so challenging, many become discouraged with growing them. I find the challenge exhilarating, and the reward is when I am able to cut the blooms and bring them inside to enjoy for the next week or so.

Here in my garden in Northern California, the bushes have leafed out fully. The foliage is healthy and green--unaffected by the harsh summer heat that is coming in a few more months, when they begin to suffer a little. And the buds are forming--and in about two or three weeks, the garden will be bursting with the first flush of an array of reds and deep reds, orange, yellow, white, pink, and coral blooms that will beckon me to rush out each morning before I go to work to pause for a few moments, tinker a little bit, sniff the delicate scents, and wonder anew at God's creation.