First rose harvest

And they are not even the Gertrude Jekylls. I wish you could smell the roses I have drying on the bookshelf in the living room. It’s heady and sickly and lemony and marvellous.

Didn’t I just declare that this rose – the original one that was here in the courtyard – was a damp squib? It has so little scent outdoors. But pluck the roses and bring them indoors and you get that amazing aroma.

So slap my wrist for writing this rose off.  I have plucked the rose heads as I need to dry them for a salt scrub I’m planning for later this year. And I do tire of chasing rose petals across the courtyard when they fall.

Two pink Gertrude Jekyll roses have come out and I will harvest those in the same manner. All I need to do now is get the strawberries to ripen so I can start making batches of my favourite strawberry and rose petal jam.