"Tra la, it's May, the lusty Month of May
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray...."

Here's hoping that this month you're all blessed with wonderful weather, beautiful blooms, and the energy to go blissfully astray if you wish.

The thumbnail photo for this month is Cinco de Mayo.

Thanks for the May Day greetings Zuzu. Here in New York, my Cinco de Mayo is nothing but pruned-to-the-ground stubs today, but they all have nice new shoots and red leaves sprouting from the stubs. It looks like we're due for 40 days and 40 nights of rain (well, ten, at least) so it should be good for the garden. But I'm ready for more sunshine!

Agreed Mike. Bring on the sunshine and blooms please!! Good luck everyone can't wait to see how your gardens are getting on.

I really could use some sun as well. I just received my last few roses and they need to get planted as well as a few few left from last week. But we have had nothing but rain. Supposedly we are going to have nice weather on Sunday and Monday so I will have to wait until then.

Thanks zuzu and happy May to you too and to all the gang here!

Mike, you're ahead of me. It's been so wet I can't even get to prune!

...and here I am, on the opposite coast, worrying that my first flush of roses will hold out until this weekend for our annual garden tour.

That's a gorgeous shot of Cinco de Mayo....best I've ever seen!

Well, I just phone Palatine to see if they could hold off sending my bare root roses for a few weeks...too cold/snowy. But, I left it too late...and they're on the way. Their rose care video said to put them all in one pot after hydrating them for 12 hours. So that's what I'm going to do.

As a child some 60 years ago, on the first of May it was tradition to hang bundles of flowers on the neighbors doorknobs. We rang the doorbell and quick ran to hide in our bushes and spy on their reaction.
The pink ornamental tree blossoms are sifting down like snow across the apartment grounds, but all I have at the moment are un-deliverable thorny bare root sticks and some dandelions. I should plan to go blissfully astray at a later date .

Oooh...pink blossoms carpeting the ground!! Way better than our snow. I can dream, can't I? And what a beautiful tradition!! How sweet!!

Yesterday, I cut back my Sequoia Gold within an inch of its life. It had the lovely Hoplia beetles and spent blooms. It looks almost like it did back in January. I hope it recovers.

There are repairs going on with my master bathroom shower since Monday. I think I have cleaned up dust to fill up a dump truck. Still more to clean tonight and tomorrow morning. I hate having my house disrupted. I find it super stressful.

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today. Mini Mouse is in bloom! What a cutie she is! She looks like a firework explosion without all the noise.

Mini Mouse aka Roller Coaster (I prefer Mini Mouse)




Here is my Yolande


This is a patio rose I saved from a fate worse than death from the grocery store


Another picture of Occhi di Fata looking fine!


I love it when she starts to turn pink along the edge of her blooms. So, so pretty and delicate.

My Princess Alexandra of Kent is just blooming up a storm. I think she likes her new location in the garden. I am glad to see good things from her this year.

I did like the suggestion of virtual touring of our gardens. I have been making some videos for my folks, who are in an assisted living facility. I am not sure that they liked them. My mom said she appreciated my presentation on grafting fig trees. I have never grafted a fig tree in my life let alone made a video of it. She must have watched something else on youtube than my video.

It's actually Minnie Mouse, as in Mickey's girlfriend, and she is a cutie.

I stand corrected. I could have sworn it was Mini but HMF has it as Minnie. I am surprised that they got away with that name and Disney didn't come after them. Perhaps that is why it is Minnie in Australia and Roller Coaster here in the US.

Pretty blooms, mustbenuts. They probably don't have to pay the royalties in Australia. And that's definitely why it goes by a different name here. They would have to have Disney's permission here and would have to pay fees to Disney to use it.

Well I just couldn't stand it any more. It was gray and drizzly out but I needed to get out there and start pruning. I got a little damp but I got 24 roses pruned today! Yippee! I did the whole front bed by the porch plus the two climbers on the posts. Even wet it felt so good to be put there working.

The roses don't look to bad considering that they got no care last year because I was sick. My brother gave them a very rough pruning last June-ish and that was it. (All he really did was take off all the dead black canes that were sticking out of the new foliage.) Plus with the polar winter we had I was expecting the worst. Surprisingly I only had seven dead ones and the 24 live ones. Some of them are down to one cane wonders but we'll see what they do before I axe them.

All in all it was a good day and a good day's work! Now on to the big bed out by the street and the pots!

Mustbnuts - yes...super stressful. I agree. I am lucky enough to have cleaners come once/month...and yet it stresses me out that they're here. That's so funny...grape vines! Your roses are lovely!! Mini Mouse is so peppy looking!! And I love your Yolande!!! Oh my!!!

I'm not sure that Disney would be owed royalties. Although it is possible to copyright a cartoon character and to trademark the character's name, all trademarks, patents, and copyrights cease to apply when works containing the cartoon character become part of the public domain. Minnie Mouse has been around since 1928, so it's unlikely that any copyrights, trademarks, or patents would still be legally valid.

Zuzu, I read somewhere that Walt Disney planted red and white varieties of roses at Disneyland and that he owned the names of those roses. Perhaps the breeder allowed him naming rights or ownership of the roses he planted and Minnie Mouse is one of those? I can imagine that other countries may know those roses under a different name because Disneyland and Disney as a company are so very American.

Here are my latest blooms.
I so happy with the new Memorial Collection!
FRAGRANT CLOUD



DOUBLE DELIGHT (This one is several days old but it still looks gorgeous)



BELLA ROMA (This one is also several days old and is still looking good)

As a point of interest related to Minnie Mouse, U.S. copyrighted works published in 1923 fell into the public domain on January 1, 2019 (earlier works were already in the public domain). Assuming Congress doesn't pass any extensions (which it has done at times), additional works will enter the public domain each January moving forward. So on January 1, 2024, Disney's copyright for the film 'Steamboat Willie' will expire, along with that of its stars, Mickey and Minnie. But Disney will still own copyrights for later incarnations of the characters, and will still also own Mickey and Minnie related trademarks. It's a bit complicated, and of course copyright and trademark laws vary from country to country.

George, Fragrant Cloud is one of my all-time favorite roses, and is one of the earliest that I grew. It's great you've started out with it.

Moondog, for a beginner in roses, you are growing some real beauties! I think we need to revoke your tyro status.