Racing to the finish line.

[leene_chan]

The future of "Moondance?", a photo by Leenechan on Flickr.

I find that if you trash-talk your flowers, they perform better.

Here's the much-maligned floribunda rose "Moondance," the first rose I ever planted, a black-spot bag and thrips magnet, but probably the most vigorous rose I grow. And hey, this nearly-open flower actually looks pretty good.

I went to my local nursery to pick up some fertilizer and laid my eyes on my very first David Austin rose in full bloom. It was a dark red variety called "Darcy Bussell" and let me tell you, those red Austin roses are absolutely gorgeous!