Last Sunday, on one of the hottest days of the year, I decided I needed just one more rose to add to our collection this year. Not to be confused with the long list that I already have for roses I want to add NEXT year.

So, hubby and I (He gets extra points for this!) headed out to see what was left at a local garden center (Dammanns).

The roses were definitely “picked over,” but I found one … a beautiful one … a GRANDE one … Grande Dame. I am so excited to have this new addition to my garden and can’t wait to see some beautiful blooms.

Here’s what Weeks Roses has to say about this 2011 release…

Grande Dame
Everything old is new again … or is it the other way around? Here’s a clean mean flowering machine whose big bountiful beauties reek with old rose romance, style & fragrance. Each lovely blossom invites you to bury your nose…to swoon from the perfume of the ‘old time’ roses of your dreams. A big vigorous ‘shrubby’ bush whose nodding clusters, abundant deep-green leaves & low-thorned cutting stems provide a perfect touch to a landscape or bouquet.

• Height / Habit: Tall/Upright & bushy
• Bloom / Size: Full, old-fashioned, in nodding clusters
• Petal count: Over 30 broad petals
• Parentage:Meredith x Wild Blue Yonder
• Fragrance: Intense old rose
• Hybridizer: Carruth – 2011
• Comments: A modern antique for all climates.

Mixing old and new is what my garden is all about!

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An Update on The Dame

If you remember, she looked pitiful when I bought her and she was planted in the worst possible conditions … hot hot hot and dry dry dry. Having so many days that exceeded 90 were beginning to get to her … and to me. We gave her lots of lovin’ care and extra Moo Poo tea.

I had decided that I probably wouldn’t see bloom until next year. But, today The Dame presented me with a surprise–her first, very fragrant bloom. Now that things have cooled down a bit, she is showing her stuff…

I guess that is just like life. Sometimes our surroundings are not ideal, but it is best to bloom where we are planted and be thankful along the way especially for unexpected surprises!

Are you getting any late season surprises?