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When I lived in Canberra (1974 - 1978, inclusive), I bought my first house in the inner southern suburb of Curtin, although in those days there was no need to use 'inner'. The back yard faced NE which was perfect. Along the back of the house, I grew tomatoes, and zucchini, and capsicum and we lived off Ratatouille.
Along the western lap'n'cap fence I grew roses. Or tried to. Helen, a friend of my husband's from his uni days, was a rose devotee and introduced me to all the nurseries in the Dandenongs, especially the ones who posted boxes chosen from a catalog, a bit like an Abbott e-Bay. I planted them so far from the fence, and so far from each other.
But roses are 'just so' plants. They are like the maiden aunt who comes to visit, with her white gloves, and perky millinery, and stockings with elegant seams. Roses are all perfume, and no soul. And, they have thorns.
When we moved to St Ives (1978 - 1998), I planted azaleas. Red azaleas like Goyet, Only one Earth, and Red Wing. White Azaleas like White Bouquet and Alba Magnifica. No thorns. No princess mentality.
This is a Red Wing.
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3 comments:
They are like the maiden aunt who comes to visit, with her white gloves, and perky millinery, and stockings with elegant seams. Great simile!
I like both, roses and azaleas, unfortunately here the ground/earth is not azalea-friendly :-(.
Well you know I love roses and I have rather a lot of azaleas to ... but knowing the names of them ... no way. Mine are pretty pink one, tiny one, all white one etc etc. Red Wing ... what a great name.
I had to grow roses to realize I didn't like them very much. Now I just have a few heirloom varieties, which appear to resist rust, etc., which is important since I use no pesticides.
It has been a wonderful summer for tomatoes. I'm chasing strangers down the street with my brown paper bag. "Please, take some!"
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