This picture is filled with stories.

The story of an arbor my husband and son built for me.

This space had once been home to my son’s fort. A place where fun and adventure were paramount while he was growing up. I treasure those days and will never forget them. I also resisted all the talk about taking down the fort–even when it was past it’s prime! One day I looked out my kitchen window to see “my baby boy” using a chain saw to alter the fort so he could grow grapes on it. Hmmmmmm … if the baby can use a chain saw, the fort can come down—even I couldn’t argue with that. A few years later the entire fort structure was removed and the new arbor was built. I had my treasured memories and the gardener in me had plans! Plans that included two roses I thought would be just perfect on this structure—The Francis E. Lester Rose and the Peggy Martin Rose. With these roses came two stories I wanted to include in my garden of stories.

The story of Francis E. Lester.

Mr. Lester is attributed with collecting and keeping available many old roses and writing about the subject in his book My Friend, The Rose published by J. Horace McFarland Co. in 1942. I have this book and it drips with information and charm. His collection of roses was the beginning of what we now know as Roses of Yesterday—a nursery where  you can find a vast collection of roses including the Francis E. Lester rose. Read more here.

The story of the Peggy Martin Rose.

Three years ago I had the pleasure of “meeting” Peggy Martin during our first Rose Chat interview with her. Peggy is an incredible expert on old garden roses and currently serves as Vice President of the Heritage Rose Foundation. Peggy’s family went through the horror of Hurricane Katrina and lost so much. The short story of the rose that bears her name, is that this plant was the only thing to survive 2 weeks under 10′ of seawater. I wrote more about her story here.

You can hear Peggy’s story in her own words on the Rose Chat Podcast here.

Fast forward 3 years.

The first year not much happened.

Last year I had some growth and a few blooms.

But, baby look at them now!

I had to get on a ladder to get the top of the trellis. Francis E. Lester has completely covered the top! That is a okay with me. There is a tree near by that I would like to see him snuggle up to!

The arbor in the back is the one with Francis and Peggy and gives a better idea of all the Francis blooms!

I can’t tell you the pleasure these two roses and their stories bring me. Fits just perfectly with the stories and memories that surround my trellis.

Here’s a short video I took this week.

I love it when a plan comes together.