First Bloom

So I'm geeking out about this the past few days. This is the first bloom on a cutting I took about a year ago. It's called Autumn Splendor. I ganked it from the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden thinking it'll probably die like the last time I tried propagating a cutting. But no. This one sat under a mayo jar and rooted in about a month. No problem. Once I got it outside I thought it would start blooming, but all it did was get leafy. For the past year I've been watering it and keeping it in a nice, sunny morning spot waiting patiently for the magic to happen.

Autumn Splendor blooms into a bright orange with red tipped petals. The flowers tend to cluster which is what drew me to this particular rose in the first place. I like orange, and clustering minis like this one have a dense look to them that I like. One interesting thing I've noticed is that aphids don't attack it. I guess that's a good thing.

It was about a week ago that I noticed this bud pop out. Yay! So now I've transplanted it into a larger pot for the summer, so this ought to be the first of many orange explosions to come.

wanderings: Needles & Roses

All this sweater ripping has yielded lots of thinner yarns from cobweb weight to sport weight, so yesterday I took a bike ride over to The Bobbin's Nest to pick up some much needed knitting needle sizes. Visiting my local yarn store always makes me feel totally motivated to knit. I love that.



Afterwards I rode around and ended up at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden. It's kind of a weird place, a bit off like much of San Jose. Located near the San Jose Airport, there are always planes roaring overhead. The surrounding area consists of open lots with dilapidated roads which the SJPD uses occasionally for training exercises. All that aside, the garden is really cool.



I took a cutting of Orange Sunblaze, and after reading this rose propagation article (among others), I'm attempting to get it to root. It's my first time trying this, so we'll see how it goes.