Grocery Store Rose Blooms Again!

It happened again! The miniature rose plant that we bought at the Giant grocery store five years ago bloomed. This plant was first placed in the dining room for two years or so, and then it was moved out to the balcony. My husband has given it tender loving care since the beginning. He prefers one small flower to a full garden. We used to have a large garden in the Midwest, then a small patio garden on Capitol Hill, and now a couple of window baskets on our balcony. This is the first year that our coco lined baskets have not been filled with annual flowers. The mockingbirds, doves and crows are pilfering off the coco liner for other uses. The only thing left in the basket is some ivy and one viola that survived the winter. I just don’t feel like dealing with the mess of it all. So it’s really nice to have the tiny flowering rose bloom again. Since March there were signs of rejuvenation. Now there are four stages of bud to full bloom in this little plant. And it usually blooms at least twice during the summer. Most often these plants don’t last past one season. But in our house it has defied the odds. And I know the reason why. 

The Miniature Rose

He did it again! It’s not something that happens all of the time. We bought a miniature rose plant two years ago. We thought it would add a bit of color to all of the greenery sitting on the plant console table. The blooms lasted for a while. Then we cut it back and it returned the favor again. My husband took this little plant on like no other. He tended to it like no other. He would move it back and forth from the console table to the sunny window during the winter. He got two more blooming times from it. Then we decided it was time to get a real console table in the dining room and the plants were scattered throughout the house. The miniature rose plant ended up on the balcony with a full western sun. The plant bloomed again in the spring. We cut it back another time - and wouldn’t you know - it budded for a sixth time and now is in full bloom. Even with the exceptionally hot summer the plant survived under the tender loving care it received. It looks healthier than ever. I’m not sure how much longer it will survive, but it’s been rewarding us with buds and blooms for quite a while. When you have so few plants you really pay attention to their health and well being. And how pretty they are! 

One More Rose

It’s hard to believe it lasted this long. We got a miniature rose plant from the grocery store last fall. My husband took it under his wing. It bloomed for a while, then as always, faded. But it would come back again under his constant care and bloomed a second time. Then winter came and the plant went dormant. It was sitting alongside all of the other plants on the console table. When spring came around my husband started putting the rose on the windowsill where it got even more sunshine. And magically this little plant started budding. And it bloomed again. When those roses faded we cut back the stems as we had done before. During that time we had replaced the plant console with a sideboard in the dining room and dispersed the plants to other parts of the house. Since the rose wasn’t doing much of anything we thought perhaps it might enjoy being outside on the balcony. And that’s where it’s been for the last several weeks. Suddenly one solo bud appeared and has since bloomed into a lovely pink blossom. Only one of the four stems materialized in to a bud. That only goes to show you that when something is cared for as much as this plant was wonderful things can happen. I’m not sure what the future holds for this fragile specimen. Time will tell. 

Miniature Rose Plant Second Bloom?

It’s been one month since we bought the miniature rose plant from Giant. We searched several places before we finally found one. We used to get cut flowers every couple of weeks for the wall vase. But I’ve put bamboo and cut greens that root in the vases. Our plant console table is also filled with greenery, and we wanted to liven it up a bit with some color. So the little dusty rose color plant fit the bill. Unfortunately they don’t last very long. But things may be different this time. The many blossoms on the original bunch are all but gone now with just a few hanging on. We have been reading up on the care for these roses. We put it on the west exposed window sill during the day and make sure it gets enough water. The yellow leaves and spent flowers get cut. It didn’t look like it was going to survive when all of a sudden it started getting greener. There are now two new buds developing and the plant just looks healthy. We read somewhere that these plants aren’t in it for the long haul but maybe we will have some luck this time. My husband prefers one plant over many and has been watching it like a Hawk. Let’s hope this rose plant continues to thrive. It’s worth all the attention. 

Rose Flowering House Plant from Giant

Finally! We found a flowering house plant that we have been looking for for over two weeks. We usually have luck with Giant, but they didn’t have anything. Then we decided to drive to American Plant. They didn’t have anything either. Then we took a ride to Ginkgo’s in our old Capitol Hill neighborhood - nothing. We checked out the plant and flower shop just down the street from us. Disappointed again - although we found out we could come here for just one or two flowers whenever we are in the mood rather than get a bouquet. We checked another Giant in Vienna - they had a few African violets, but they didn’t look so hot. Then we drove out to Wolftrap nursery - forget it. Then I checked the internet to find out if flowering house plants are just plain out of season. It didn’t seem to be the case. When we went grocery shopping this week we thought we would take another look at the plant supply. And there they were - the little rose plants that we know won’t last very long but will add some color to the plant stand that is primarily green. My husband liked the purply pink color - I would have preferred the white. There was also a red one. The plants looked fresh so we got the purply one. The fading green plant was removed and replaced with this one. There are rocks on the bottom of the pot and the water can drain. The trick is to keep the soil moist but not wet. I’ve never mastered this process and the rose buds start to fade. Unfortunately these roses require a lot of sun and that defeats the purpose of having something on the plant stand. So every day we put it on the west facing window sill and hope it does well. Then in the evening it goes back to where it belongs. Maybe we will have better luck this time - but I have my doubts. 

Retirement Victory Garden Rose

When I retired a little over two years ago from the Library of Congress I received a little rose plant. It came all the way from Wisconsin from four of my friends/colleagues. These are very special people - I worked in health care for thirty years in the Midwest and met these folks a long time ago. Whenever we visit Milwaukee we always stop by to say hello and have kept in touch since we moved to DC. So we planted the little plant in our garden patio. Last year it came back and bloomed. This year it’s grown to twice the height and is just starting to bud. We weren’t sure it would survive the very erratic weather we’ve been having. Aside from the fact that roses seem to be difficult to manage sometimes with all the bugs and such that like them so much. So I’ve been spraying it with the rose potion and it’s doing okay. Once it has bloomed I’ll cut it back to keep it more in check. But every time I look at it I think of our friends in the very friendly Midwest. We do miss their company - but what a great way to remember them.