Rose Notes

Carolyn Parker Bio Part 2

 

How did you become interested in roses? I love to ask people this question. After my first book was published, I asked it of myself. You see, I was rather stunned that I was now a published author and wondered how on earth it had happened. It took a while to piece together my initiation into the rose world. Here is the best way I have found to describe it- 

 

Conference of the Roses

Four single (five petal) roses met and planned how to woo me. Here’s what they said: 

 

“You, little white wild thing, greet Carolyn in a redwood forest as a long lost friend.”

 

“Rosa Californica, since you cover a vacant lot near her cottage, your fluttering pink single blooms, followed by fruity hips will really get her. Since she’s a back-to-nature type, she’ll probably harvest you for rose hip jelly.”

 

“When she returns home to visit Oregon, the sight of you, small-ivory-golden-centered-single, will thrill her. Your dive over that retaining wall will surly inspire her to take cuttings.”

 

“Irish Elegance, you will make the final play. She will be rocking her baby by the big window in her bedroom when she first notices your appearance. Your pointed orange buds will look like flames rising above the junipers,

 

 when you open into 4-inch wide peach blooms, she’s done for.”

Hopefully the above reads as a fun story- to me- that’s exactly how I was introduced to roses. Singles were my first love.

 

Each part was magical to me.

 

Before long, a rental cottage provided a garden with more roses- there was a Tea similar to G. Nabonnand;

 

the Hybrid Tea Snowbird;

 

and a lovely Cecile Brunner shrub. 

I learned about roses, and rose gardening as I cared for my garden-loving toddlers. All the roses shown here imbedded themselves in my consciousness, but they would have to stay put until our girls were in high school and I had closed my fashion business. 

That’s also when we purchased our home. Its derelict garden was a wonderful blank canvas for the little Oregon girl with the ugly back yard. 

Bio Part 1

Bio Part 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Very Special Rose Garden

 

However much we may learn of chlorophyl, chromogen, and colour-cells – the pigments of nature that are made from the earth and rain, air and sun,

 

somewhere in the dark habitation of the roots and the airy galleries of the leaves – we do not know why the same ingredients clothe one petal with flame and another with blue.

 

Colour, like fragrance, is intimately connected with light; and between the different rays of the spectrum and the colour-cells of plants there is a strange telepathy. 

 

These processes, so little explored, seem in their deep secrecy and earthly spirituality more marvelous than the most radient visions of the mystics.

 From The Spring of Joy by Mary Webb

These images are taken in the treasured Northern California garden of Pamela Temple. I've had some of my life's happiest moments amongst its many roses. I often dream of being there.

 

Many thanks always Pamela !

 

Secret Gardens

Can you imagine where I might be- facing such beauty?

 

Looks like England you say?

 

Let's peek through the fence.

 

A precious jewel of a garden-

 

a charming secret place. 

 

Oh! The things which happened in that garden! If you have never had a garden you cannot understand, and if you have had a garden you will know that it would take a whole book to describe all that came to pass there.

 Frances Hodgson Burnett~ The Secret Garden

 

 

 

 

What are the real stories here?

From my car, parked at the Albany Safeway, (right, I was not in England) a friendly pink flush of roses beckoned me, and camera, across the street to a Bank parking lot. I peered through rose canes at the top of the wall and found such delight. A week later I told Carolyn Sanders what fun I had, during my secret photo shoot. After all, it was her garden I was capturing. No, I wouldn't shoot a garden without permission, and thankfully received it after the fact.

Carolyn and I were at the Celebration of Old Roses. How many times I've mentioned the Celebration lately, both here and on FB. It is so much more than the actual day. Loving roses just happens to bring magic with it- people, places, stories, history . . . secret gardens.

 

 

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” 
― Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

And because I have a garden, one spring day, 10 years ago or so, I photographed Laura Reed there- she had just starred as Mary in a production of The Secret Garden. The play was presented at the Meher School, across the street from our home. 

 

 

I had the fun of costuming her for the production. Laura, a brilliant performer, has now graduated from college and is persuing all things theatrical.

 

Thank you Laura Reed and Carolyn Sanders !

 

 

Celebration Rose Bouquet- details (story board)

 

With the Celebration of Old Roses coming up, I wondered what state Miriam Wilkins' garden was in. Even after sharing itself with rose seekers following Miriam's death in 2009, and a recent severe pruning, I thought there might be the chance of a magical come-back. After all, roses in 4 digits had passed through Miriam's hands into her garden.

 

In recent years Miriam's garden had become an almost impenetrable jungle of rampant growth. Miriam enjoyed the blooming rooftops of her garden from her second story dining room window. From the ground, blooms were a challenge to even find. Kristina Osborne and I decided to go over and have a look.

 

What a revelation we found! Until recently, the foreground in this shot was buried by the growth shown in the previous picture (taken several years ago).

 

This and many other lovely roses now had plenty of sun and space.

 

The neighboring property that Miriam planted had a number of changes, but roses were thriving.

 

The first close-up is The Musk Rose and the last is Quatre Saisons. In between, sorry I don't know their names.

 

This is Red Grootendorst with Geranium Maderense. Yes, Miriam's incredible collection of companion plants were also unveiled by the pruning. (I have another post planned for them.)

Needless to say Kristina and I were thrilled and we planned to come back the next week with Joanie Helgeson to harvest for the Celebration. And I made plans to gather blooms for a large bouquet to display in Miriam's rose patterned tureen. Miriam's daughter Lynn gave it for use at the Celebration, if we "filled it with roses." I was especially excited that this year all the roses would come from Miriam's garden.

 

A Week Later

This (and more) is the harvest Kristina, Joanie and I managed to cut on Friday, before the Sunday Celebration day. Believe it or not, all of this was needed for the bouquet.

I usually like to make bouquets the morning of the event, so I was nervous about how fresh the bouquet would be almost 3 days later. Many of the roses were rambling or climbing singles picked in bud, in hopes that they'd open by the Celebration.

To clear the living room, I thought I'd better get busy.

 

The Bouquet

In this close-up, you can see the just-opened singles.

 

Miriam's tureen detail.

 

At the Celebration. 

 

The Day After

The heavy weight and broad width of the tureen required a liner. It's much easier to arrange these hefty stems in a container with a smaller neck. A day later, everything still looks o.k.- I was surprized and grabbed my camera. I only wish I had had more time before the Celebration to capture the many wonders that made it through the door.

 

Thank you sweet roses,

 

and thank you Miriam!

 

 

Peggy Martin Roses

First comes the harvest.

Then the first vase-- how do they look in this one?

Hmm, what else can I use? How about that blumebox Susan gave me.

Perfect shape-- yes perfect-- easy-- chic-- roses love it-- it loves roses-- I'd even like one in glass or porcelain.

After these darling roses were in the house for a while, they began opening perfectly (that word again). The photographer didn't nudge any of these blooms into their smiles. As I was harvesting it was a challenge to find the blooms looking like this. I guess they needed a little 'inside' air and protection. And they stayed fresh for days.

Another look

I think the last two images would especially please Peggy Martin–– their inspiration.

Peggy Martin and Her Rose

Two summers ago I had the pleasure of photographing Peggy Martin in front of her namesake rose. This image was taken in the beautiful Louisiana garden of Marilyn Wellan.

I was a newspaper columnist at the time and wrote a piece about my trip, that I'm excerpting here.

Picture four women at a garden party, seated in a group of chairs on a long veranda– we faced a broad allee of velvety grass, framed by deep beds of Tea, China, and Polyantha roses.

Peggy told us the story of how her home and garden of more than 400 roses were completely decimated by Hurricane Katrina. Her Plaquemines Parish property was under saltwater for two weeks — everything died.

She returned to denuded trees, black sticks and gray mud; a scene that reminded her of the devastation at Hiroshima after the atomic blast.

As she walked the property, she noticed a leafy spot of green on an old shed that had been covered in rambling roses. It was the only living thing, and it appeared to be thriving. She soon realized it was the bright pink rose she had received as a cutting from an elderly lady who told her the rose was Seven Sisters.

Once Peggy grew the rose, she soon realized it was not Seven Sisters. She spent a good deal of time, to no avail, trying to find its identity. She told rose expert Dr. Bill Welch about the lone survivor. He was so impressed that he named the rose after Peggy and asked her if she would consent to featuring it in a garden restoration project for the Gulf South.

Peggy sent cuttings to rose nurseries, and now thousands of dollars have been raised to benefit replanting public spaces in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

PEGGY MARTIN IN MY GARDEN

When Marilyn and I visited Peggy's new home and garden in Gonzalez, La, she gave me a rooted cutting of her rose. Here it is, only two years later, thriving in my California garden.

My Peggy Martin rose is climbing a Robinia 'Freesia' that was killed during sewer work on our property. The yellow tree (above left before it died) was so lovely I didn't want to remove it, and hoped a climber or rambler would come along and give it new life. Many thanks Peggy !

PHOTOGRAPHERS

By now many of you photographers know I like to show pairings of good-and-not-so-good background shots. This set was taken a year ago. The school parking lot across the street is pretty startling isn't it? Would you know it was even there-- did you think I might have acres and acres of roses?

In this year's version, I turned with my back to the parking lot and shot the house. In both shrub views (to the left in each set) the camera is facing north.

To order a Peggy Martin rose for your own garden, contact one of the nurseries below:

Antique Rose Emporium, 9300 Lueckemeyer Road, Brenham, TX 77833, 800-441-0002.

Chamblee's Rose Nursery, 10926 U.S. Highway 69 North, Tyler, TX 75706, 800-256-7673.

Here's a post about arranging Peggy Martin roses-- click!

Gold Country

It was a bountiful weekend

in Gold Country

as the guest of Jan Hedman. This week's posts will be dedicated to the inspiration from two days of beauty and friendship.

~

PHOTOGRAPHERS

This morning I assembled my motely pile of flashcards from the weekend, and promptly deleted a 2 GB card by accident (sorry Jan- and it was from yesterday morning– boo hoo). It gave me pause to reflect on how I should update my stash of cards. A recent look at a 2005 invoice revealed that I paid $203.00 for a 512 MB card. Today, an 8 GB card costs $20.00!

Times change, but do I? I guess not, and the hard way wins once again. On my next trip, an 8 GB card in each of my two cameras would be perfect. Do you camera raw photogs out there know how inexpensive more storage space is?

 

PS- Here's a link to all my photography how-to posts.

Miriam Wilkins' Parting Gifts

It was a beautiful, sunny day on Galvin Street, in El Cerrito, CA, this past Saturday. People gathered to accept gifts of roses from the garden of Miriam Wilkins, beloved Bay Area rosarian, who passed away in November.

I was there in the morning, when people from nurseries and rose organizations had first pick of all the treasure. For quite awhile, I stood on the back porch talking to Joanie and Kristina, and watching people huff and puff up the hill with their bounty. Jay, Miriam's garden helper, and rose expert extraordinaire, proudly wore his Miriam t-shirt. Teresa had meticulously prepared a list of the known roses.

Many of the roses were conveniently labeled.

As I finally made my way through Miriam's over grown rose jungle, I came across these two carefully planning their strategy. Only so much is possible within time and manpower constraints.

The labels fascinated me and my camera. Each of these tell a story to those who know the lingo.

Clothing labels were pretty fun, as well, "Hold still please, I'd like to shoot your label."

Colored plastic tape marks roses in the holding area.

The garden wasn't without a few silent witnesses.

Thank you Miriam, for so much.

Carolyn Parker Photo Interview

Camilla Emond from the inspiring and gorgeous blog, Bloom, interviewed me recently. It was an honor to ponder and answer her questions. For archive purposes, I've reproduced the interview here. Thank you so much Camilla.

Hi Carolyn,
Thank you for doing this interview today. I am a huge fan of your work and, of course, the lovely roses you share with us.

Where do you call home?
Lafayette, CA in the San Fransisco Bay Area.

How many years have you been a photographer?
Since 1990 when I visited Italy.

Did you go to school or are you self-taught?
Self-taught with an art and design background.

How do you describe your style?
Effulgent. Clean- I can't help it- one day I realized that everything I do or design has a clean look to it. It's not intentional- I'm actually sort of messy- it's in my cells.

How did you get started?
I proudly showed a friend of mine some 4x6's that I shot of rose arrangements. He said, "These are terrible, you should ask my dad for some tips." I was crushed and looked and looked at those pictures trying to figure out what he meant. I called his dad, who came over and told me I needed to use a tripod, because the images I wanted required f16 at a 1/2 or 1-second exposure (we're talking film here). He also showed me the effectiveness of shooting level with the subject. These simple tips led me on a path of constant experimentation and discovery.

Who or what inspires you?
Roses at every stage- all of life resides within them. They led me to this moment.

Five words that describe you? Passionate, exuberant, persistent, adaptable, awestruck.

Favorite photog? Victoria Pearson- she's a house and garden features photographer, whose work I've seen in many magazines. She captures the image with heart and magic.

What makes a photograph good? A clarity of intention.

Carolyn is an author too, and has two books published- tell us about them.

I have to answer this one in third person-
An ex fashion designer, with an art school background, and fondness for roses, finally has a chance to garden. The results inspire photography. After three years, her photography improves and she thinks all her efforts, in both gardening and photography, were meant for more than her own enjoyment. In the spring of 1990, she travels to Italy, with camera, and for two weeks blissfully photographs gardens etc . . . She audaciously thinks, I will do a book on Italy! (Hmmmm) When she returns home, her own garden is a blazing sea of bloom. She sees it with new eyes, and realizes that all her inspiration resides just outside her door.

She spends the spring of 1991 shooting every day in hopes of creating a portfolio to take to stock houses and publishers in New York, approaching them much the same as she did fashion contacts, in her previous career. With eleven appointments booked, off she goes. One stock house (FPG, now called Getty) contracted to represent her, and one publisher (Harry Abrams) asked her to send back a hundred slides to show editors.

Three months later, an Abrams editor calls asking,"How would you like to do a lush little book titled The Poetry of Roses, where you choose the poems and do all the photography?" (Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Well it was not without major challenges {from the publishers end}, but she won't go there.) Our photographer said yes, of course, and spent a year on the project, falling even more in love with roses.

It was a thrill, when the book came out, obviously she wanted to do another, and so did her editor. She worked for months on one idea, and her editor handily rejected it. That was that? Well, for that publisher anyway. She worked on other ideas that didn't gel at all. Then one spring day, in the garden, an idea came for the next book, almost fully formed. She felt she had received an exquisite gift, and spent the next eight years working on R is for Rose.

When the book was finished, she realized she needed an agent to find a publisher. She spent 6 months (she kids you not) writing a non-fiction proposal. In only two months, she had a lovely agent, but it took two years to find a publisher! C'est la vie.

This is a long answer for a blog, but let me end this question with a few words about receiving the finished books for the first time. I'll use second person this time–

Imagine your creative, blood, sweat, joy, and tears (slides and manuscript) all wrapped up in a box, and placed in the mail. It goes off to the publisher, and your contract says they (the publisher) have all the design and decision making power. You don't even have input on the cover, or for that matter, the title. You hope, with all your heart, that it turns out to be a high quality book. The wait (about a year) is excruciating.

Thankfully, I was not disappointed.


(on Carolyn's blog you'll find visits from her talented "Artist Husband")

Gear at a glance:
Two canons- 20D and 30D- one wears an AF macro f 3.5, the other a basic 18-55 zoom. I have a big time Canon EW-8324-70 zoom, but it's heavy and should be used with a tripod. My first book was done with a 35mm Minolta SLR, and my second book with a Hassleblad. Before I went digital, I almost always used tripods. Now I can barely stand the thought of using one.

Favorite lens and why?
Macros are my favorite, because they act as an extension of me, taking me into secret realms of beauty and concentration- the outside world ceases to exist.

Something you are still learning? I hope I am ready to learn something every day. I'm also fearful of learning new things though. I have a video camera that I've had for three years, and never used, because I don't want to learn the technical aspects. Learning is a constant in today's world. In 1993, I had a friend type the manuscript for my first book- the learning curve from there to here- yikes! Yesterday, for the first time, I used the adapter that goes with my four-year-old macro.

If I wasn't a photographer/author I would be...
I won't even go there- I've been, am, so many things and enjoy being a photographer the most.

Two wishes?
One is too private, and the other I am embarrassed to say.




If you could have breakfast with someone, who would it be?
You Camilla, outside on a sunny, pleasantly cool morning in Montana, and after breakfast we would take a photo walk.

Advice for a newbie?
Study photographs that you admire- try and figure out how they were accomplished. Be ready to solve problems- adaptability in the moment is a must- try to make the next picture different and, or, better than the last. Love it all.

What is your favorite part of photography?
I have no favorite part, but I will say that the kind of photography that I do, with set-ups and all, is often exacting, grueling, and breathless. I'm thrilled that digital allows many shots because I am after the unknown quotient. Whether or not I achieve that, is not for me to say, but I am often overwhelmed by the scent of roses.

Thank you Carolyn...it's been a pleasure.

Miriam Wilkins' Roses for Sale

I never count the May morn lost

When there are roses, velvet mossed.

Green fringe encrests the calyx stem,

There snugly in the mist of them

The nested petals. They unfurl

Disclose the dusted heart and curl

In perfect exercise of grace

Exactly as that rose has formed

Thru centuries. Now warmed

Beneath the sun's warm glance

The musk scent rises to enhance

The charm of evr'y mossy cup.

It leads the dazzled bee to sup

As I, likewise bedazzled, pause

Spellbound before the Old Pink Moss.

~Miriam Wilkins

Miriam Wilkins loved the rose featured in this post, which among other names, is known as Common Moss. Yesterday, her sister Thelma Behrens sent me this poem of Miriam's, thinking you might like to read it. I thought it would be a nice way to announce a very exciting, once-in-a-lifetime event. The sale of Miriam's roses- she planted more than two thousand, over the years, on her El Cerrito Hillside. 

All the ROSES in MIRIAM WILKIN’S Garden are for SALE!!
(In pots…in the ground…cuttings)

Saturday, March 6, 2010
1-4 p.m.
925 Galvin St., El Cerrito, CA

Nurseries and Public Gardens
Are invited to come early
10-1 p.m.
(We are hoping you will help keep the roses available to the public)

Bring your own: Pot, Dirt, Shovel, pruners, etc.

The roses have all been labeled, but you are on your own for hauling, digging up, taking cuttings, etc.

Contact Kristina Osborn if you have questions
510-527-3815 or kmosborn@earthlink.net
Cell: 510-542-7149 (on March 6)

 

is for Moss Rose, and of course, Miriam.