Whenever I feel blue, I buy a rose

[ideasguy]

Lee (a very special member of our fourm) sent me this by email.
Her friend had sent her an email telling her about her garden being featured in a Dallas morning paper:

it was in Dallas Morning paper a month or so ago...Lee
 
A rose paradise in the New Mexico desert
09:58 AM CST on Friday, February 23, 2007

"Whenever I feel blue, I buy a rose." That's how Lee Sherman, a 67-year-old rose fanatic in Albuquerque, ends correspondence.
I know the feeling.

Ms. Sherman, 67, is a character, and I am certain that description will come as no surprise to her.

She went to visit an old boyfriend in England 20 years ago, before the house she shares with her husband was completely landscaped, saw Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst in Kent and overnight became a rose fanatic.

I visited Ms. Sherman last spring. My hostess guessed she had about 500 roses, and most of them were in bloom.

"I live 11 months of the year for this explosion," says Ms. Sherman, picking her way ahead of me to watch for run-ins with thorns. She knows from hosting hundreds of gardeners that we get distracted very quickly ? by hummingbirds whirring, by somniferum poppies, by each rose we pass ? and forget to watch our step.

 
MARIANA GREENE/ Staff
Enjoy Lee Sherman's rose garden online if not in person. What she calls Zebra Park overflows with roses that bear striped blossoms ? red, pink, purple, white. "I just bought four more striped roses this morning," she confesses, as I notice her lacquered purple toenails.

"Instant gratification. I'm not getting any younger; why shouldn't I?"

Beyond Zebra Park are free-form beds tumbling with roses of every description and color.

"It's just wonderful to watch people go through that mess in the house and see this. OH GOD!"

I think she has been suddenly stricken, but no, she's merely overcome by another beautiful rose.

"Artists come here to paint," she says. She hosts tours for the public at peak blooming seasons.

"People call me up and say, 'I'm driving to California. Can I come by?' I hear from people all over the world. OH, LOOK AT THIS ONE!"

Just thinking about Ms. Sherman and her roses banishes my blues. See for yourself at http://www.trentdesigns.com/sherstripe/
 
 
whenever I feel blue....I buy a rose

[greenfinger]

George, this would have been a very good WPG-project. I like the website and in particular the 100% hedonistic picture of Dean Lee.
After having read her short biography I would strongly advise her to stay far away from ships and other things floating in the oceans.
I have not much roses in my own garden, but I can recommend the next: Bouquet parfait.

[ideasguy]

Well spoken! Hey, I think she has your sense of humour Frodo 
Ive just rolled about some more after reading that biography of the Dean.

She really is a quite a gal, and you'll be pleased to know we are emailing behind the scenes with a view to doing a set of web pages using this new fangled IG Pro WPG (web page generator to the un-initiated)

I thought you were taking the proverbial pi** (wouldn't be at all like you) , but Ive done a search and found this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sint-katelijne-waver/174731374/

[greenfinger]

No, I'm innocent as a lamb.  I even don't know what pi** means.  Can you explain it? Thank you.
And yes, that's the one: a  rose you can grow without fear for pests, diseases. It has no needs (only a bit of pruning of course, but that's really all) and a lot to offer. You've found a good picture, but in reality that rose is at least such a beauty.
The name Louis Lens is a very great and reliable name in the roseworld here. He developed a number of recommandable roses.
At a given moment he had one in development which he intented to name after his wife. Then she got deadly ill, and the day of her death itself the new hybrid opened its petals and Louis was still able to let her admire the plant he dedicated to her. I'm not making up this story, it is the truth.
Mister Lens himself died a few years ago and a most beautifully illustrated book is written about him and his lifework.
A young couple took over his business under the old name: Lens Roses.

[ideasguy]

What a lovely, romantic story!

RE:

A young couple took over his business under the old name: Lens Roses.

I found a link, but the server seems to be down (a bit like thins one some days!)
http://www.lens-roses.be

and a reference here in the wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Lens
I see Pascali is one of their roses - I have it in my garden!

[greenfinger]

A young couple took over his business under the old name: Lens Roses.

I found a link, but the server seems to be down (a bit like thins one some days!)
http://www.lens-roses.be

Strange, here that website opens immediately.

[ideasguy]

Its OK now. It was a temporary fault. Happens on this server a lot.