(Skip this beginning and go right to the Rose photos if you want to avoid my rant about garden critters driving me nuts)

I’ve been very remiss about writing here lately. There are reasons- Slugs, crows, deer, skunks, black flies and GROUNDHOGS to name a few.

The gardens have been gorgeous. Despite weird weather, the Roses are putting on their best display maybe ever. There is so much to celebrate and savor, but I can’t say I am lounging around with a beach read on a chaise lounge savoring the garden glory. My days find me running from defensive project to defensive project, trying to outwit, outlast and outplay a vast horde of animals.

My backpack sprayer for the garlic spray is in constant use. I laugh at those experts who list plants deer don’t like. The deer read the lists just to prove these experts wrong. They eat Potatoes, Tomatoes and thorny Roses with relish. I used to spray just Deer favorites like Hostas, Day Lilies, Echinacea, Amaranth, Hollyhocks and Sunflowers. Now I just spray everything including myself. Eau de Garlic is my summer scent.

On another front, our Red Shiso crop, so vital to our Flower Essence operation is alive and well, but this has taken near 24 hour a day attention as some mysterious creature has joined the slugs in an all out assault on the Red Shiso crop. If I leave the garden unattended for two or three hours, I invariably return to find something has ripped up all the mulch separating the rows of Red Shiso and covered all the still delicate Red Shiso plants. The task of going up and down every row to remove mulch and rescue baby Red Shiso gets old fast.

Red Shiso is a crop that thrives on love and attention. Well it is getting ALOT from me and these mysterious critter friends. We all have our theories about who the troublemakers are. Turkeys? Could be. A flock was spotted near the Red Shiso. Skunks? A definite possibility as their fragrance is noted as it mixes with the Garlic in the air. Crows? Well we keep on seeing them in the field.

And why is this mysterious critter doing this? Mulch shredding something I have experienced before, and I hope it is not one we have again. I have considered pitching a tent and sleeping next to the Red Shiso. It may come to that.

The vegetable garden is also a battlefield. While fenced in with an 8 foot fence which theoretically keeps deer out, this fence provides a sanctuary for no plant. I spray Garlic spray around the perimeter and I Garlic spray everything inside the fencing that we won’t be eating like bean foliage because every groundhog in creation has moved into the neighborhood.

One groundhog digs a hole in the center of the vegetable garden EVERY NIGHT and I fill it in with BIG ROCKS every morning. Things like Lettuce and Broccoli can’t be Garlic sprayed because even I, so redolent of Garlic, will not eat Garlic spray covered veggies. Need I add that the groundhogs have dined heavily on these unsprayed crops and we’ll be getting our greens from the local farm stand. The groundhog also busted into my hoophouse and ate all the lovely Cucumber plants I tenderly raised. This morning they ate the pea crop. I had sprayed these plants until the peas started forming. The groundhogs ate around the garlic sprayed foliage and just ate the peas. Grrrrr.

All is not lost. I have some new ideas for next season. I am going to try putting wire hoops covered in frost cloth over crops like Broccoli. And I’ll continue on with gigantic crops of Onions and GARLIC which seem not to appeal to groundhogs or deer. That is, if the family is willing to eat Garlic when already they live a life of constant Garlic perfume as the spray wafts over them wherever they are and whatever they are doing.

But enough complaining. Somehow the gardens have adjusted to all the Garlic spray and are really putting on a show. I’ll close with some pictures of the Roses flooding the gardens with their beauty and fragrance- a welcome change from Eau de Garlic.

Cardinal Richelieu Rose reminds us all to be true to ourselves and rid ourselves of the labels and definitions other have placed on us.

Julia Childs Rose helps us keep the faith and find our enthusiasm for the journey ahead of us. No surprise this Rose blooms in many shades of BUTTERY yellow!

Gallandia Rose offering us a template for a high vibration light body. An ethereal whisper reminding us we can make the shifts in vibration we are called to make right now.

This Rose is called Pink Pillar Rose. I am not sure why this name as not too pink and not a pillar. The place where I planted it in the garden grew shady so I moved it to a very sunny spot. It set back hard after the move but has come on well this spring. The deer ate a number of the buds when I missed it on a Garlic spray run, but a few made it. It has a really strong vibration of pure love which helps us find a bead on this too.

The Mary Rose helps us houseclean our hearts and so works beautifully as a purifier too. This is not a great photo of this gorgeous friend. I wanted to include it anyways as rhere is something so comforting about how this Rose supports us and I hope you’ll reach for her if you feel your heart is burdened and needs a housecleaning- It is not a violent cleanse but a deeply loving and restorative one.

This is Grace Rose, the embodiment of grace, that all pervading Divine reality of love freely given. Rose blossoms look different at different stages of their opening. This one looks really different when first opening (as in the photo on the order tab) and here where its generosity is so evident.

La Belle Sultane Rose meets Pink Grootendorst Rose. A painting of La Belle Sultane was our label during one stretch. I love its expansive, velvety quality and love how it helps us rise up into our timeless and awakened self.

Pink Grootendorst Rose offers a liferaft of love when we feel beleaguered or simply need a Rose kiss. It is a sweetheart.

Madame Isaac Perriere Rose offers a vibration of consoling Mercy. Some of our most beloved Rose Essences have Madame in the name. I read that Rosarians growing new Roses often name their favorite Rose creation after their wife. This means that a Madame before the name often signifies that this was a Rosarians most loved Rose.

Our Alika Roses have taken over an enormous area of the garden, anchoring the entire southeast quadrant of the main Rose garden. It offers a vibrational lighthouse sort of energy and helps us all be beacons of love and light.

I long time ago I was given this Rose by Ruth Joly, a wonderful gardener in Cornish NH. She didn’t know its name and somehow it became known as Coral Pink Rose even though this really isn’t a coral pink. Anyways, its a marvelous Essence for when we are anxious and fearful that something bad is going to happen. It carried a soothing vibration that everything is going to be okay.

Climbing New Dawn Rose had a very good winter here at the farm and has climbed up its arch so much higher than ever before. Its fragrance is very strong even after a dousing in Garlic spray ( because the deer seemed particularly focused on eating this Rose). As with so many I have shown today, this is a great one for right now as it helps us trust the Divine plan.

Charles de Mills Rose restores us when we are frazzled or electrically short circuiting. This one has a vibrational energy like standing next to a waterfall with the ozone washing through our system. Refreshing is too mild a word for this one.

This is Konigin von Danemark Rose. She is a damask rose which means she is from the family of Roses used in perfume. I tenderly look out for this Rose because I love her so much, and she often has a tough time getting through our winters. As a Flower Essence she helps with shame spirals, helps us soften our view of self and helps us recover from patriarchy with its emphasis on being “perfect”.

Rosa Mundi is an ancient Rose that looks like it was freshly minted yesterday. Energetically it helps us when we feel shredded by events and weary of the strange journey we’re on. Rosa Mundi reminds us we are timeless spiritual beings having a physical experience not visa versa.

This is Alex MacKenzie Rose. I reach for this one a lot as it helps us do what we have to do with courage and fortitude.

Last one! This is Ispahan Rose from ancient Persia now Iran. This one also helps us find a clear sense of personal direction and clarity about what we need to do.

There are common strands among Roses. They never fail to uplift us whether in person or as a Flower Essence. They encourage us to dump the unreal and all we don’t need and find our true eternal self. They flood us with divine love always. They are Flowers like no others.