a new rose!

this dear sweet man took some time out from crushing the grapes he'd just harvested for my project.  we wanted to do it before the predicted rains started.  i had a grape plant growing in front of this window in my studio, which gave lots of shade during afternoons and kept my studio from really over-heating... however, it put on such heavy growth that it grew onto the roof and the little dome and pulled the trellis to wonky angles.  it was a major digging job to make a 24" hole for the rose thru hardpack clay-like dirt.    anyway, he got the hole dug, his grapes crushed and i got the rose planted barely before a downpour.

  this is the climbing rose which will give me shade.  well, this is the grown-up pic of what it will look like.  it is called "Aloha" and i bought it online from Heirloom Roses in St. Paul, OR.  they have an extensive selection of beautiful roses and their service is great!

from the photo it looks a lot like my favorite heirloom rose, Gertrude Jekyll.








James took a break from crushing, too, to check up on what we were doing.

so, heavy rain and winds came as predicted, enough to blow over trees and take out power in parts of Portland.  nothing that extreme out here.... just lots of rain.  i know my memory is not as good as it once was, but... really?  this much winter weather in Sept?  just doesn't seem right.