Garden Party...Celebrating Roses!

Seventeen years ago I purchased two one gallon Mini climbing roses from the Sonoma County Jail plant sale. I planted one on each end of our deck and now, all these years later, with very little care and no pruning, they’ve become breathtakingly beautiful! Jeanne LaJoie is a wonderful mini rose that puts on a real show once a year in spring and then blooms off and on until frost.

When I planted them I had a 14 year old daughter. Today I gave a rose themed garden party with her 4 year old daughter, my granddaughter.  It has  really paid to stay in our home so long…you can’t get a rose show like this overnight! This garden has so many wonderful memories with our children and now our grandchildren….

We had fun making rose bud ice cubes, planning to serve my granddaughter’s favorite peppermint tea, making a tasty tortellini salad and  a chocolate meringue dessert, decorating and making countless flower arrangements. It’s a meaningful activity to share with a child or grandchild! Perhaps these images will encourage you to plan a garden party too! I loved having all my coworkers over for lunch. Planning and executing it with my little granddaughter helping to serve and welcoming our guests made it very special and a lot of fun! Enjoy!