So the last of my 5 weddings this summer took place last weekend, and to be honest I'm a bit sad. Not that my social schedule isn't packed with SmartsCo parties across the country this fall, but I do see what the "Wedding Crasher" characters were onto (not that I'm bringing home strange guys from each of these - I just like the dancing).This last one was for my dear friends Tracy and Carl and it was georgeous. I was particularly honored to be able to play the flute in this one (I don't get too many opportunities to perform anymore other than the occasional wedding - and I much prefer the flute to being a bridesmaid). I think the best part of the whole weekend for me was the arts and craft projects which I helped out on. I just love weddings where friends and family chip in and create beautiful things.
Tracy and Carl's moms made yummy cookies that were family favorites and we boxed them up, and tied cute ribbons around them. Next up was tying bows on the programs which was a 3-step project: folding the programs, punching the holes, and then tying. As a former process consultant myself and Carl being a product manager, we both were quite interested in streamlining the process so there were no bottlenecks. I think we did a pretty good job reconfiguring the assembly line when certain people got behind.
The highlight of the wedding weekend for me began the next morning at 6 am when we got up and drove up to our friends McNultys house in Sonoma County to pick roses. They have about 1000 absolutely gorgeous rose bushes and were kind enough to donate roses to the wedding. I learned a lot about roses that day. The rose pictured here is called "Perfect Moment" - how fitting! According to Terry McN. "It is one of our favorite roses. However, it is not at all
fragrant. What it lacks in fragrance, it makes up for in its spectacular color scheme."
So here's what I learned on my rose pruning expidition, thanks to Terry's great lessons.
1) You should always cut a stem so that your cut is about 1/4" above an outward-facing leaflet
2) when you prune, from the base of each rose you select for cutting, count down at least 5 leaflets until you locate an outward-facing leaflet. Then cut just above that leaflet.
3) some bushes are more prickly than others (boy can it be painful if you aren’t careful).
Storing
1) You should immediately put them in a clean pot filled with TEPID water. NOT warm, as warm water tends to blow the blossoms too quickly. And NOT cold water, as cold water will cause the cut ends to seal themselves, and then they die too early.
2) you should remove the bottom leaves, but keep the thorns on
Cool stuff.
Types
There certainly seem to be a heck of a lot of roses out there: different species, different colors, different varietals. It’s actually pretty fascinating, and beautiful I think they create a new rose for every first lady as I saw a lot of names of former president’s wives. (My favorite rose was believe it or not – the Nancy Reagan. Not sure what to think about that one.)
Hmm – maybe one day I’ll leave the City, get a house of my own and grow roses. Could be fun.
