With temperatures down to 3 or 4°C on two nights last week, the prospect of a frost comes ever closer and I made a point of checking on my dahlias after both chilly nights. Most of the posies I pick at the moment are mostly made up of dahlias, and as well as gathering dahlias whilst I still can it would be a shame not to gather any rose buds that are unaffected by the cold or dampness. As I did so today, thinking of the recent loss of my younger sister and now other family illness, I was mindful of Robert Herrick’s poem in which he encourages us to seize the day: ‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may’…
The roses I gathered are the increasingly popular ‘Lady Emma Hamilton’, her blushing apricot blooms and burnished bronze new foliage serendipitously complementing the adjacent crab apple ‘Evereste’, which is smothered in hundreds of little blushing apricot apples (blushing more furiously as they mature), making up for the dearth of last year’s crop, wiped out at the blossom stage by the Beast from the East’. The ‘lighthouse’ shaped vase I brought back from a pottery on the Scilly Isles was brought into service again for its band of orange and yellow glazes which neatly picked out the colours of the rose and the fruit.
Thank you for your tolerance last week when I was unable to catch up with your comments and vases; this week all should be as normal and I look forward to seeing your vases if you are able to venture into your gardens and find some material to pop into them.
Rambling in the Garden 
Well Cathy – we both used the same quote today! Gather ye rosebuds – except you did and I didn’t! Love your beautiful rose and the dainty, pretty little crabapple! I really should plant a crabapple. The fruits glow like gems. Really lovely, thank you. Amanda https://therunningwave.blogspot.com/2019/10/this-summers-last-hurrah-in-vases-on.html
Thanks Amanda – there are so many different crab apples and I thought long and hard before I bought this one which I have had about 3 years. The fruit is really really pretty and of course the blossom is too
I think I might look out for that one. I am hoping to plant a damson tree shortly, and maybe the crab apple could sit nearby. Do you cook with the fruits on yours? A
I could do, but enjoy admiring the apples too much to pick them! Perhaps when it is bigger I will
So many pretty flowers this week
Love how the droopsy dropsy crabapples complement the roses so perfectly – I, also, need some sort in my garden!!
droopsy dropsy – love it!!
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I love your pairings Cathy, I never would have considered crab apples and roses. Here is mine: https://wordpress.com/post/chasingtheblooms.wordpress.com/4651
If they were next to each other like these were I am sure you would have done Joe!
Absolutely beautiful Cathy! I love the colors and also am struck by how many memories and connections you’ve managed to pull into this vase today–your dear sister, a trip, a weather event and almanac, poetry. I always enjoy reading your posts. Have a peaceful week.
Thank you so much, Susie – I think sometimes these things weave themselves into IAVOM without much help from me. I certainly hadn’t planned all those connections!
Hi Cathy, so sorry to read that your loss and that your family is going through troubling times. I hope things improve soon. Needless to say, I love your beautiful roses – the peachy shades look perfect in the vase you’ve chosen. Living so close to the sea, I don’t anticipate a frost just yet so I think my roses will survive a few weeks yet. The crab apples are perfect with the roses too. Here’s my vase for today – https://silverscrappers.blogspot.com/2019/10/in-vase-on-monday-cupcakes-and-tartan.html
Sometimes we do still have the odd rose at Christmas, but it is often the dampness that gets to them at this time of year. I am pleased to see that some of the buds are opening and the vase looks even prettier than before
Love the soft colors. Are the crab apples the kind you can make jelly ?
Thanks Beverley – you can make jelly with them but it is not a huge tree and I love to see them hanging there so I probably won’t make jelly this year
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Your crab apples are such a gorgeous colour. Love them together with your roses. Yes, gather your rosebuds Cathy, before the frost comes, and do make the most of each day. Warm wishes to you and your family this week. xx
https://wordsandherbs.com/2019/10/07/in-a-vase-on-monday-because/
Thank you for your kind thoughts, Cathy
I have read quite a lot about the real Emma Hamilton and think her rose is aptly named. I love the combination of flowers and fruit and as others have said, it is something many of us would not have thought about. Hope this vase raises your spirits a bit. I have not lost any siblings and as I age, it is a fear that starts to move to the forefront. I am sorry to hear of your loss and family stresses. My vase is here: https://www.lindabrazill.com/each_little_world/2019/10/ivom-prunings-.html
Thank you so much Linda – my other sister is now poorly and yes, it brings up a whole range of feelings
The rose is new to me and lovely. The crabapples are a perfect foil. I have fruit and flowers today and no rosebuds! Hopefully your family illness will turn into wellness. And all the Monday vases will cheer you a bit. http://theshrubqueen.com/2019/10/07/in-a-vase-on-monday-purple-jam-session/
Thank you Amelia. Once you see this rose you are easily smitten – and it has a lovely fragrance too
I am smitten from across the pond.
I am not surprised…
That really is a most attractive rose Cathy. Does her scent live up to expectations? Only one cluster of crabapples on my tree this year – not sure why. I will miss their abundance so will the birds. Yours is most pretty. Herrick’s sentiments bring to mind Marvell’s poem ‘To His Coy Mistress’ which I’m sure you will be familiar with – excellent advice which rings just as true now as it did when they were writing. Another pick and plonk from me this week :
https://greentapestry.blogspot.com/2019/10/in-vase-on-monday-not-quite-what-packet.html
Yes, the fragrance is rich and sweet, Anna – the buds are opening in the warmth of the house now and I can smell them from here. Might yours have been affected by a cold wind perhaps? I know from last year mine were very susceptible to late frosts. Must remind myself of Marvell’s poem, haven’t read it in ages, nor Donne…
It’s a lovely combination of elements all around, Cathy. I subscribe to the sentiment of the poem too while hoping the health situation you reference improves soon. My own ‘Lady Emma Hamilton’ (won in a raffle) recently produced a new bloom yet its color seems very different (deeper) than your lovely specimens and others I’ve seen on-line, which has me wondering if David Austin sent me the wrong plant. As to my vases, they’re still all about dahlias: https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/2019/10/in-vase-on-monday-sprinting-to-finish.html
Best wishes.
Thank you Kris, I hope so too. David Austin are very good about replacing mislabelled plants – well in the UK they are. I emailed photographs of one this year that was flowering in different colours which they thought might be a ‘sport’ of what it should have been and the replaced it without question. If it hadn’t been roses, it would have been dahlias for me too!
Cathy your roses are divine and are fabulous next to the crab apple tree loaded with ripe apples with that fantastic color that enhance your “Lady Emma Hamilton” roses with its lovely and soft apricot color. The vase that you have chosen to put the roses I love because together with the color of the roses. It is a magnificent arrangement. I sincerely hope that your sister is cured and that your family is well and so are you. Greetings from Margarita xx
Thank you Margarita, I am really thrilled with how the roses have opened up in the vase. Thank you for your kind wishes for my family and myself too. I am fit and well but I try not take this for granted. How is your own health at the moment?
Cathy thank you very much for worrying about my health. I’m pulling, but I have to go to the doctor because my foot swells. The one that worries me now is my Mother. It is antimedical and we will go to the Family Doctor together to see us and send each one to the Specialist Doctor we need. Cheer up, every day is a different world: you’ll know that. Many cheers and health for you and your family. Greetings from Margarita xx
I hope you and your mother get the treatment you both need soon, Margarita
That is a lovely lovely. combination Cathy. Sorry to read a sad tone to your post today. Hopefully everyone’s vases might raise a smile.
https://digwithdorris.wordpress.com
Thanks Dorris, yes it is good to be properly involved with IAVOM again this week, as it brings pleasure to so many people. It is a sad time, but life goes on, for most of us anyway
IAVOM is a good escape from sadness if only temporarily. A brief distraction but a lovely one. Sending you a hug.
Thanks Dorris, it is very welcome
ps sadly your old ‘comments off’ problem affects your vase post today. Lovely roses (some of mine were a bit weather beaten but I took the outer petals off) and I have looked up the Leucanthemella which is something I have not come across before – it is VERY tall, isn’t it?
I like my plants tall
😁
Such a lovely rose.
Love the combination of apples, roses and poem…..
Thanks Noelle – the roses are looking even prettier now
Dear Cathy, so sorry to hear about your younger sister’s death and other family illness. Such a sad time for you all. We too have not had an easy year at all. The garden is such a solace during these difficult times isn’t it. I love your rose and crap apple posy. Lovely mellow colours. I’ve gone for Venetian shades this week. I’m sorry I’m late. I just can’t keep up. Much love. Karen xx https://bramblegarden.com/2019/10/10/in-a-vase-on-thursday-10th-october-2019/
Thanks for your kind words, Karen, and I am sorry to hear you and your family have not had an easy year
Forgot to say, I’d forgotten all about that Poem. Will read it again….. xx
The colors of your vase today bring thoughts of a lovely Chopin etude.
An inreresting thought ricki, and isn’t it strange how our gardens and their pkants can trigger thoughts of certain songs or music
Oh dear Cathy, I haven’t kept up with your news, I am so sorry, how awful for you. I hope your garden is bringing you some comfort at such a sad time. I love your apple and rose colours. Crab apples are fabulous at this time of the year. My eating apples have been very sparse though.
Thanks Chloris, for your kind thoughts. There is still uncertainty surrounding my elder sister’s health so it is an unsettling time – but yes, the garden is a good friend. Odd about the apples, isn’t it, as our cooking apples have also been very sparse (but more than enough to deal with!) Whilst the crab apples have been smothered
I am sorry to be so late. It is just a few hours from next Monday now.
I don’t notice the roses as much as the crabapples. This happens to be one of the best places on Earth for roses, but crabapples are quite uncommon.
Is it the climate that favours roses?
Yes; it is pleasantly warm, but not too hot for too long. More importantly, the minimal humidity inhibits some of the worse diseases. Portland is known as the ‘Rose City’, but roses are not quite as happy there as they are in San Jose.
That’s really interesting to hear, Tony