Through the Looking-Glass

Follow me as we journey to an alternative world where the rose seedlings don't grow too big -- we can get there "Through the Liverworts".  All of you gardeners out there should be familiar with liverworts by now; if not, check them out on Google Images.  I'm letting the floor of my rose bed "go natural" (with the exception of weeds), so the mosses and liverworts are having a grand time jockeying for growing space.

This morning while watering the roses, I noticed a "basal break" surfacing about 1½ inches away from one of my 'Queen Elizabeth' rose seedlings.  It was poking up right through the liverworts, as you see in the photo below -- it's directly south of the mother rose bush:

Curiously, the mother plant is a very slow growing seedling.  It was born on July 7, 2008, which means that it is now 49 months old.  It has a pink bloom that you see below sitting atop a bush that is just 20 inches tall.  The photo to the right shows one of its sister seedlings (also of 'Queen Elizabeth'), another slow growing rose bush that was born on April 23, 2008.  This 52 month old plant stands around 2½  feet tall, but it does have some good looking white blooms.  The blooms on both of these rose bushes are considered to be "very full".  It's only now in their FIFTH growing season that the blooms are able to open properly, and they really needed some Summer heat to do so.

REALITY CHECK:  Don't get the wrong impression from the small sample of seedlings above.  The overwhelming majority of my 'Queen Elizabeth' seedlings are substantial rose bushes, as you will see in the rest of this blog.