June is Rose Month at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden & the New York Botanical Garden & on Gaby's Brooklyn terrace

I missed the free day at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden on Tuesday, but am hoping to make it to the New York Botanical Garden and its Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden or the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this Saturday morning. Last year, I won a florabunda rose at a raffle at the NY Botanical Garden. I had heard that Roses were difficult to grow and since at the time we had North light in our fifth floor walk up on the Upper East Side, I had been worried about the rose plant.

Happily, this type of rose is very hardy and low maintenance. It flowered in my old north facing apartment and is flourishing with 10 buds in my Brooklyn terrace. They've opened in the last two days. When I came home from the Book Expo on Sunday, there were three flowers blooming. And from my window, I can smell the scent of roses.

Randy and I purchased a small rosemary plant last Sunday as well and it is flourishing. I'm a little worried about the lavender and dwarf lemon tree that I received from Henry Fields. I'd never bought a plant online and it's a bit disconcerting to see how small and dormant these plants are. I had heard that the quality from online nurseries is better than what you'd pick up at Lowes or Home Depot. I'll give it a few months, but I'm not sold on these online nurseries!

I'd succeeded in growing mint from seed last year, so was a bit ambitious this Spring. We now have cilantro and lettuce that are flourishing. The chives have begun to grow. I have yet to see if the basil, oregano, peppers, lavender and rosemary are going to sprout. I have such limited space that I need to pare down my garden, decide what to keep and in what containers and configurations. I'll post photos of my terrace garden soon.