Roses make me happy

My mother loved her rose bushes. I have a couple of them, the ones that survived, in my yard. After her death, my dad streamlined their yard so that the upkeep would be easier. I found her roses by the road one day and gathered what I could, on that cold November afternoon, and took them home. Some made it, some didn't. I have two left. But, the actual bushes aren't what's important, it is her love of roses that transferred to me on that day. I now have her bushes growing beside an arbor in the yard, and I have added three other bushes.

I started looking at roses on the Internet and found some that I would dearly like to have. Most of them are old. I found one that looked so pretty, had part of my name in its name, and was hard to find for purchase, but the very nice Jill Perry, of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden, was nice enough to correspond with me and offered to send me cuttings when they cut their roses back. I received a package yesterday and in it were six rose cuttings. It is a lot hotter and more humid here than in San Jose, so I'm trying to harden them off a little on the back porch before sticking them in the Alabama heat. Or, I may try to bring them in until the hottest of the summer is over. Either way, I hope all of them make it. If they do, I have spots picked out in the yard for them already and may even share one or two.