Healthy Lifestyle

On September 6, 2023 By SCLMRoseIn #motivational, #PositiveThinking, #stress, #Wednesday WisdomLeave a comment

By Rosalinda R. Morgan, Author of “The Zigzag Road”

When it comes to your heart, it’s never too soon to start taking care of your health. Making small changes and smarter choices can have a big impact, helping you to feel better, healthier, and happier every day.

Stay agile at every age – You don’t have to be super fit to maintain mobility as you age. A new study shows that the more light activity you engage in now (think gardening, walking, or even shopping), the less likely you are to be sidelined by immobility in your later years, regardless of how much high-intensity exercise you do. Try to hit a goal of 30 minutes of exercise a day, 5 days a week to strengthen your heart and keep it healthier.

Get your ZZZs – Sleep gives your body the rest it needs to recharge and destress. Set a bedtime and a nightly routine to unwind so you enjoy at least 7 hours of healthy sleep.

Book an annual physical – Don’t skip out on your annual check-up. One of the best ways to prevent heart disease is by monitoring your cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, and blood glucose levels and discussing your risk level with your doctor.

You are what you eat. Fill your kitchen with mostly nutritious foods (veggies, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats) but leave a little room for in moderation. Stay away from salty food which can contribute to kidney disease and heart problems.

Calm your mind. Listening to a favorite song can lift your spirit, studies say and they’ll be raised higher if you sing along. Singing has been shown to increase oxytocin which helps regulate anxiety and decrease cortisol, the stress hormone.

Do a quick declutter. Messy environments have been linked to anxiety and stress.

Smile, even when you don’t feel like it. It seems to affect positive change in your mood.

Lighten up. Enjoy life. Smile more. Laugh more. Don’t get so worked up about things.

Stop and smell the roses. Here is a Sedona Rose for you today!

A Rose (The Pilgrim) and a Tip for a Happy Life

On November 25, 2019 By SCLMRoseIn #amblogging, #HelpfulTips, #inspiration, #MondayMotivation, #motivational, #PositiveThinking, David Austin Roses1 Comment

Name of Rose: The Pilgrim

Class: Shrub (David Austin Rose)

Registration Name: AUSwalker

Hybridizer: David Austin

Date of Introduction: 1987

‘The Pilgrim’ rose hybridized by David Austin and introduced in 1987 is not named after the pilgrims in Massachusetts but the pilgrim in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Parentage is ‘Graham Thomas’ x ‘Yellow Button’. It grows 4 ft tall x 5 ft wide and up to 10 ft as a climber. Its perfectly formed blooms are quite large, shallowly cupped, rosette-shaped and up to 170 petals. The beautiful yellow color pales towards the edges of the blooms, giving a charming softness that is rare among yellow roses. The soft green foliage complements the soft yellow blooms. It has a delicious medium to strong Tea and myrrh fragrance. The bush is quite healthy and repeats very well.

In warmer areas, it is a good idea to do summer pruning to keep the plant upright and bushy. It is superb as a climber, one of the best English Rose climbers. It will quickly reach some height and still produce flowers and leaves lower down on the plant which is rare among climbers.

Tip of the Day – Learn how to cook one awesome meal to make those dinner parties much more special. (Not just on Thanksgiving).

A Rose (Secret) and a Motivational Tip for the Day

On October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 By SCLMRoseIn #amblogging, #amwriting, #HelpfulTips, #motivational, #PositiveThinking, Rose Gardening, Roses2 Comments

Name of the Rose: Secret

Class: Hybrid Tea

Registered Name: HILaroma

Hybridizer – Daniel Tracy/E.G. Hill Co.

Date of Introduction: 1992

This exhibition quality pink blend Hybrid Tea is a winner of the All-America Rose Selections Award in 1994, Portland Best Rose in 1998 and the Gamble Fragrance Award in 2003. It is white with raspberry pink edges and is both excellent on the show table and garden display. It is a medium, moderately thorny, bushy plant with an upright habit, semi-glossy dark green leaves on long stems and produces lots of large high-centered blooms 4 to 6 inches across. It grows 3 to 5 ft tall and 2 to 3 ft across. Blooms come on single stem or in clusters of three or four. Blooms are double (30 to 40 petals) and tend to get larger in cool weather.

Secret is a generous performer giving blooms from late spring to early summer and repeats through to fall. It can be used in beds and borders and if you need lots of fragrant blooms to share with others, plant Secret in the cutting garden in threes so the plants look bushier. It has a strong, spicy fragrance. It is winter hardy and has good disease resistance. Who says modern hybrid tea does not have any fragrance? Secret can perfume a room with just one bloom.

Tip of the Day – Be around positive people who do positive things.

A Rose (Pristine) and a Motivational Tip for the Day

On July 25, 2019July 25, 2019 By SCLMRoseIn #amblogging, #HelpfulTips, #motivational, #PositiveThinking, RosesLeave a comment

Name of Rose – Pristine

Class – Hybrid Tea

Hybridizer – Warriner

Date of introduction – 1977

Registration Name – JACpico

Parentage – ‘White Masterpiece’ x ‘First Prize’

‘Pristine’ has the delicate look of porcelain, you’ll be tempted to feel the petals to see if it is real. The bloom is high-centered, double (30-35 petals), large – six inches across and somewhat ruffled. Most often, it comes singly on a long, thick stem although quite thorny, with large, dark green glossy leaves. It is a very vigorous plant and very disease resistant. It can be used for cut flower or for garden display. It has gathered enough trophies to be a favorite among exhibitors.

The tapered bud opened white to creamy petals blushed with light to medium pink on the edge of the petals and displaying orange-yellow stamens in the center. Fragrance is light. Habit is quite tall and spreading, from 4 to 7 ft. tall and 3 to 6 ft. wide. It tends to spread its canes sideways so prune it to inward-facing buds to discourage sprawling. It blooms continuously throughout the season. The best location for this rose is in the back of the border. Good companion plants are pink flowered plants and some blue stately delphiniums. For regions with harsh winter, it requires winter protection.

Tip of the Day – Keep your desk and work area neat and clean.

Until next time. Stop and Smell the Roses

Rosalinda

Romantica Roses

On March 15, 2019 By SCLMRoseIn #amwriting, #motivational, #PositiveThinking, Romantica Roses, Rose Gardening7 Comments

Rouge Royale by Regan Nursery — Rouge Royale – Photo Credit: Regan Nursery

For rose lovers who want the charm and fragrance of the Old Garden Roses with their large variety of flower forms but longer blooming period, there are large selections now available. First, there was David Austin’s English Roses, then other growers started producing roses with the Old Garden Rose characteristics. One of them is the Meilland Company of France (developer of the famous Meidiland family of Landscape Roses. Alain Meilland of the legendary French rose company, the Meilland Company that boasts six generations of family ownership and hybridizer of the Romantica Roses received the Great Rosarians of the World award for 2012.

After David Austin’s success with the English Roses, the House of Meilland followed suit with a series of garden roses blending the best qualities of Heirlooms with modern Floribundas and Hybrid Teas. They call this group of rose Romantica Roses. Many of these varieties were bred in the South of France by Meilland International. These new French Roses represent an important expansion of the English Rose style, with astonishing new varieties and versatility that take the concept pioneered by David Austin to an entirely new level from romantic antique to modern Hybrid Teas, from climbers to shrubs with extensive color ranges, nostalgic pastels to vivid hues, wide selection of attractive plant forms, excellent disease resistance, outstanding foliage typical of the Meilland breeding line, old-fashioned fragrance and dependable repeat flowering habit for all seasons color. These characteristics appeal to both the novice as well as the advanced gardener. Their improved disease resistance and garden performance make them a wonderful addition to the modern landscape.

Here is a list of Romantica Roses that you can incorporate in your garden:

Bolero – F – White – 2004
Dee-lish -HT – Medium Pink – 2011
Francois Rabelais – F – Medium Red – 1998
Guy de Maupassant – F – Medium Pink – 1996
Jean Giono – HT – Yellow Blend – 1998
Michelangelo – HT – Medium Yellow – 1997
Peter Mayle – HT – Deep Pink – 2003
Polka – LCl – Apricot Blend – 1996
Rouge Royal – HT – Red Blend – 2001
Traviata – HT – Dark Red – 1998
White Eden – LCl – White – 2004
Yves Piaget – HT – Medium Pink – 1985

Note: F (Floribunda), HT (Hybrid Tea), LCl (Large-Flowered Climber)

Tip of the Day – When someone is telling you about an important event that happened to them, don’t try to top them with your own story. Let them have the stage.

Until Next time. Stop and Smell the Roses.

Rosalinda R Morgan

A Rose (Gemini) and a Motivational Tip for the Day

On February 26, 2019 By SCLMRoseIn #amblogging, #inspiration, #motivational, #PositiveThinking, Rose Gardening1 Comment

Class: Hybrid Tea

Hybridizer: Dr. Keith W. Zary

Date of Introduction: 1999

Parentage: ‘Anne Morrow Lindbergh’ x ‘New Year’

‘Gemini’ is always a winner. It won the 2005 Members’ Choice Award from the American Rose Society. It also won the AARS 2000 award. It has all the qualities that exhibitors love – high-centered large blooms, 5”-7” in diameter, double (17-25 petals), and elegantly formed. It has a lighter tint in the spring and gets darker hue as it progresses through the season. The light pink color with a darker hue on the edges is so beautiful. No wonder it always captures a place at the Court of Honor of a Rose Show.

Gemini produces plenty of exhibition type blooms on a tall, bushy plant (4-6 ft high x 3 ft wide). Most often, blooms come singly on a long, thick stems with large, deep green glossy foliage. This rose looks great in the garden and in a vase. It also lasts a long time in a vase. If you have one space in your garden, try to get Gemini. It will capture your heart as it does most judges at the Rose Show.

Tip of the Day: Set short term and long term goals.

A Rose (Alnwick Castle) and a Tip for a Happy, Healthy and Successful Living

On October 17, 2017January 24, 2018 By SCLMRoseIn #inspiration, #MondayMotivation, #motivational, #PositiveThinking, Rose Gardening, RosesLeave a comment

Rose: Alnwick Castle

Class: Shrub

Date of Introduction: 2002

Hybridizer: David Austin

I had ‘Alnwick Castle’ in my garden in New York and I bought one for my garden in Charleston.

‘Alnwick Castle’ has beautiful pink flowers, about 120 petals, cup-shaped buds that gradually open to deeply cupped flowers with pointed edge petals. The color is soft pink with pale pink edges. It is bushy, relatively upright, 4 ft. tall by 2 ½ ft. wide and stays compact. It continues to bloom all season long. Foliage is polished green and perfectly complements the flowers. It is hardy, fairly disease resistant and has a good Old Rose fragrance with just a hint of raspberry.

‘Alnwick Castle’ rose is named for The Alnwick Garden in the UK which has a wonderful collection of roses.

Tip #29 – Give others credit for what they do. Show your appreciation of what they have done by saying “thank you”.

Until Next time. Stop and Smell the Roses.

Rosalinda R Morgan

Author & Garden Writer