In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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January 24, 2008

A rose called #05R412

Rose #05R412 arrived in the mail yesterday.

It came unsolicited from a rose grower who hoped I’d find it - and another one in the box - interesting enough to grow and write about. I’m not really a modern rose aficionado, so my first thought was to give them away.

But I pulled out the packing slip and read the description. It described number 05R412 as a blend of “smoked lavender and rusty red-orange,” and as a “powerfully ‘flowerful’ floribunda mysteriously colored and deliriously novel.”

Yikes. That sounds amazing and stunning and interesting and desirable all at the same time. My head was spinning! I looked down at the mass of roots and thorny stems, and thought about what promise they hold, about what surprise they have in store for me. So, Rose #05R412 will be potted and put on my back deck alongside some other roses.

Next June, the company tells me, they’ll send me the actual name of rose #05R412. I’ll let you know.

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