Rush For Roses

For Christmas hubby came through big time: a gift card at a nursery to buy roses. He had done his research looking for the best place in Northern Colorado to buy my favorite rose, the David Austin, which is hard to find. I had several at the old house that we didn't bother to move, regretfully. He found a nursery in Longmont, a 40 minute drive away.  He had called the nursery to see when it would order its roses, so this morning we set out at 6:30 AM to spend the gift card. Today was the Flower Bin's Rush for Roses. He was told that people arrive early with their running shoes on. We arrived early and waited for the gate to open along with other rose enthusiasts.

The day was beautiful with bright early morning sun, cool, crisp and clear.

We had never been to this garden center before, but it was impressive. We really didn't need to arrive so early because the crowd was manageable, the roses neatly organized, the staff helpful.

We didn't do any other shopping, just gathered our roses and went on to the next stop: breakfast.

After eggs and coffee, we traveled even further south to the next stop: The Tree Farm to return a peach tree that didn't make it through the winter.

40 acres of trees

This nursery is so large that it runs a valet service, hauling its customers in golf carts. What a cool service. Kevin sold us our peach tree last summer. We picked out a nice one, but it just didn't survive our dry winter.

Row and Rows of Red Buds! One of my favorites.

Our purchase: Miss Kim Lilac, who will live in our court yard.

We did quite a bit of damage today; although the roses were pre-paid, I did go over budget, but who was counting? Neither of us. I came home with six new roses, three David Austins, including a climber and two  tea roses. We will plant tomorrow. I'll write the great reveal probably when I need a break from grading.

We had such a lovely drive outside the city limits with a glorious view of the Rocky Mountains. With the small amount of rain that we had last week, the fields of alfalfa and grass hay are brilliant green laid out like a plush carpet. We love our Colorado Rocky Mountains and today they were glorious, still capped with snow. In my new header, Long's Peak, one of Colorado's  popular Fourteeners (14,000 ft. elevation) that hikers enjoy climbing. 

This will be the last week of classes at the university with a week of finals following. I am nearly done. I can't believe how fast the semester flies by. So tomorrow I will indulge in my guilty pleasure, planting my roses before I settle in to start the grading marathon. I hope everyone has a terrific week.