A Christmas Rose for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

It is the 15th of the month, which means Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again. To view links to other garden bloggers' blooms and read their collective comments, go to http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/.

It has been a soggy, frigid past four weeks. Not great for keeping blooms on any of my outdoor plants. Even on my pansies they turn to a messy mush, but I went out this morning and found these four precious blooms -- two roses and two sweet peas to share.

I direct sowed the sweet pea seeds into my vegetable bed on a whim back in September. They are kind of spindly, but are hanging in there.

The roses are single blooms on my Meidiland grouncover shrubs. Those usually bloom in clusters and are also normally done by October. The rest of these rose bushes are covered in rosehips. I tasted a rosehip both before and after the freezes here in the DC-region last week. I can definitely attest to waiting until after a freeze to harvest your rosehips. The sugars really come out with the cold. Before the freeze, the rosehips are a bit bitter. After it, they are almost as sweet as apples.

I'm deciding if I should leave them out for the wild life or if I should harvest some to attempt some home-made Christmas presents. My schedule may dictate that more than anything. Today I'm getting our Washington Gardener Enews done and sent out, tonight is the annual DCEcoWomen holiday gathering, then I have to get the Winter issue of the Washington Gardener Magazine final layout plus proof done for printing later this week. Next comes processing the new subscriptions and entering the magazine's mail list. Wondering when I'll ever get my present shopping done and tree trimmed. Luckily, I'm done with my cards and cookie baking already. Can you believe there are only two weeks left in 2009?