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The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review

I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...
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Rose Balling

'Double Delight' rose suffering from rose balling

 It is not a pretty sight and can be alarming to wake up one day and find your roses looking like this. However, it is not the end of the world (or in this case, your roses). 

 "Rose balling" is a disfiguring condition that is caused by cool, wet weather. Flower buds fail to open properly and turn dingy in appearance. This is caused by rain which saturates the bud and is followed by hot sun which dries and scorches the bloom. 

 There isn't a remedy for this with the exception of cutting off the offending eyesore. The future flowers should be fine (unless the exact conditions happen again). Placing roses in full sun locations helps (although my rose is in full sun) and good air circulation is also beneficial. 

 Hopefully, the next flush of blooms will look more like this -


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Lisa at GreenbowJune 6, 2019 at 3:11 AM

    Some of my white rose blooms have this. I wondered what was the problem. We have had so much rain lately. Now we are drying out. I hope not too much. That last rose photo is yummy.

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  2. chavlinessJune 6, 2019 at 8:32 AM

    The flower in the second picture is breathtaking!

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  3. GRACE PETERSONJune 7, 2019 at 10:27 PM

    This happens a lot in the fall. It's really disappointing. But nothing is perfect.

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