Do blogs have birthdays ?

This one certainly does, and TODAY we celebrate the one year anniversary of this blog -- my first post was on December 5, 2011.  Besides being entertaining for you, it has allowed me to chronicle events in the rose garden for an entire year, and I will be comparing future happenings with benchmarks that are documented here (and also assuring that the blog will have at least one reader).

As far as adding posts in the future is concerned, I'll do it only when there is something significant to add.  There will not be a repeat of "first bud of the year", "first bloom of the year", etc.  However, I will continue to add updates to existing posts whenever it is appropriate.  The updates will be easily identifiable by the bold red flag:  Update of Month dd, yyyy: .  I've already done this many times this year.

So, let's wrap up the celebration with a photo that I took today.  The wet foliage is SO typically Northwest.

'Voodoo' seedling born:  June 12, 2008
Photo taken:  December 5, 2012

Update of December 24, 2012:   The above 'Voodoo' seedling continues to bloom -- the rose bush is in a fairly good location to capture the intermittent (and brief) periods of sun that shines this time of the year.  This morning I took my final 2 photos for the year, but we certainly end on a cheerful note:

Photo taken:  December 24, 2012

Photo taken:  December 24, 2012

Rose hips

If it wasn't for rose hips, then this blog wouldn't exist !   The main thing with rose hips is to make sure that they ripen sufficiently, and then to let them chill for a while (stratification).  I let my rose blooms of June and July set hips and let the hips ripen on the bush until the end of November.  Here in the Willamette valley, the cold nights of November provide the necessary chilling period.  Then, I harvest the hips in early December.  Even though my rose bed is now full, I still maintain the tradition and give away the hips to interested "valley people".

This year, I selected only one rose bush for growing hips.  It's the largest 'Queen Elizabeth' rose bush in my garden, and it's been growing in the back yard since early 2007.  It was store-bought, and was an inexpensive bare-root bagged rose.  Below are photos of the rose bush in full bloom, and the same plant later in the year bearing hips soon to be harvested --

'Queen Elizabeth' rose
Photo taken:  June 12, 2012

Same rose bush
Photo taken:  November 25, 2012

Another year winding down

So, what do you think is slower than watching grass grow?  Here's something much slower -- moss.  We can get a good idea of the slow pace by comparing the photos below.  The photo on the left was taken one year ago; the photo on the right is from today.  With a little encouragement, moss is slowly taking over the rose bed, turning the back yard into a veritable Japanese garden (but with roses!).   Notice that the chicken has wandered off to a new location, very close to the garden shed.

December 2, 2011

December 1, 2012

But wait a minute !    You say that you see a couple of rose bushes with blooms and denser foliage toward the rear of the rose bed?  That would warrant a closer inspection, so let's walk back there and take a couple of photos of two of my 'Voodoo' seedlings, which are living up to their name because it would take some kind of voodoo to be looking good this time of  the year --

'Voodoo' seedling born:  June 12, 2008
Photo taken:  December 1, 2012

'Voodoo' seedling born:  June 20, 2008
Photo taken:  December 1, 2012

Note:  the rose bush on the left was featured in its very own post of May 20, 2012.  The title of the post was "First 'Voodoo' (seedling) bloom of the year".