Thursday, May 13, 2010

Roses in Brooklyn

The house on the corner with tall, wrought iron fence is always tight shut. Sometimes I see the owner. He was shoveling snow on the sidewalk at 5am in the morning when we dragged our suitcases down the middle of Congress Street in December, on our way to catch a cab to Penn Station, for Montreal.

The glories of home ownership, he muttered to us...

I wonder sometimes if he sees me from his upstairs windows, while I stand on tippy toe on one of my terrace chairs to water the pots on the roof, or weed, or pick thyme for dinner, or pull a garlic bulb. Does he like the Iceberg roses, which spill up and over the terrace?

Because as mute as his house is, against the high wrought iron fence are planted about eight David Austin roses, and they are now coming into bloom.. They are over seven feet tall.

When I was up on the roof taking this picture, I saw that the neighbour-girl had painted her terrace, which is a little smaller than ours. It is a deep, shocking pink. Or red, depending on your eye. I say pink. She said she liked ours, so painted hers the same

Could this be a trend? If you're interested, it's Benjamin Moore Roseate.

Above, New Dawn, enjoying breakfast with us.

7 comments:

  1. Wouldn't it be neat to have the ability to smell those gorgeous roses' perfume, while looking at your photographs?
    Any inventors reading?

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  2. They looked like alien life forms, hard spiky branches above tendrils of dark octopi-roots... 24 hours soaking in my trash cans and then into lovely chocolaty potting mix... and rain... will they ever become blossom laden and perfume the lake breezes? David Austin is now in Milwaukee.. I'm on the bandwagon!

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  3. I can smell them from here in California! I trap for insects with the Agriculture dept here and the other day while at a vineyard, there was this heady smell drifting about and behind a red barn I noticed it: the giant rose bush. It's smell arrived before I saw it. That smell lingers in my head even today. At the time I was thinking: someone should figure out a way to bottle this smell so we could post it on our blogs for everyone. There is nothing like it!

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  4. completely aND TOTALLY beautimus.
    totally jealous of course but mein gott, these are stunning...and glorious pictures too!!!

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  5. How beautiful. Here on my Welsh hillside I can't grow anything but the tough old rosa rugosas, but they can be surprisingly beautiful too. I would admit for a yearning for David Austin. I have one in my sheltered side garden which still looks ok so you never know, it may stay with me!

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  6. Benjamin Moore 'Roseate'- in the matte base? Or eggshell...?

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    Replies
    1. I am afraid I don't remember. It was a long time ago...

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