While not in the running with Pasadena, California, nor Portland, Oregon, both “Cities of Roses,” with annual Rose Parades and Festivals, our modest monastery rose patches are lovely to behold nonetheless.
Throughout the late Spring and Summer, we can usually count on a variety of colorful roses for decorating our monastery church.
While serious growers of roses go to great trouble to get their bushes through the winter, by dusting, pruning and protecting for optimal growth, we monks are much more cavalier in our approach, and do the minimum for the longevity of our roses.
For the most part, because our roses are protected in our cloister garden, surrounded by our living quarters, and not subjected to wind or deep freezes, we are usually pleasantly surprised at what crops up each June, July and August.
We don’t actually know the official names of our dozen or so rose bushes, but their beauty and fragrance are welcome additions to our desert landscape.
With our continued prayers for health and well-being.
Abbot Christian Leisy and the monks
