If you would like a rose to put on a veteran’s gravesite this Memorial Day, the Sand Lake Trading Company, located at 53 E. Lake Street in Sand Lake, is giving away 250 free roses to honor our deceased veterans.

According to Linda Gutzki, of Sand Lake Trading Company, they ordered the roses from a memorial foundation, who, in turn for her order, will place 150 roses on graves at Arlington Cemetery.

“It’s just a way to give back to our veterans,” she explained.

The roses will be no charge, and people may come in to pick one up on Friday, May 27, and Saturday, May 28, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If people don’t know of a veteran they could honor with a rose, Linda said they would be happy to direct people to the grave of a veteran who doesn’t have any family around.

Joan C. Reed

August 7, 1931—May 13, 2004

If roses grow in heaven

If roses grow in heaven, Lord

Please pick a bunch for me.

Place them in my Mother’s arms

and tell her they’re from me.

Tell her I love her and miss her,

and when she turns to smile,

place a kiss upon her cheek

and hold her for a while.

Because remembering her is easy,

I do it everyday,

But there is an ache within my heart

That will never go away.

With love from your family

by Melinda Myers

Although June is national rose month, gardeners can keep their roses healthy and blooming all summer long. Through proper care and a few simple strategies both existing and new roses can continue to look their best throughout the summer months—maximizing their beauty and enjoyment for all.

Water thoroughly whenever the top few inches of soil are crumbly and moist. Use soaker hoses or drip irrigation to apply the water directly to the soil where it is needed. You’ll lose less water to evaporation and reduce the risk of disease by avoiding overhead irrigation.

Mulch the soil surface with shredded leaves, evergreen needles or other organic matter to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and improve the soil as they decompose.

Keep your plants blooming and looking their best in spite of the heat, humidity and pests of summer. Immunize your plants against common environmental stresses such as heat and drought, while building their defenses against insects and diseases natural defenses with an organic plant strengthener, such as JAZ™ Rose Spray (gardeners.com). Researchers discovered when some plants are stressed they produce hundreds of molecules that help them better tolerate environmental stresses as well as insect and disease attacks. When applied to plants in the form of a plant strengthener, the treated plants improve their own defenses, much like immunizations do for us.  Gardeners will notice less damage from stress, better recovery, reduced yellow leaves, and healthier plants overall.

Proper fertilization will help keep roses healthy and producing lots of flowers. A soil test is the best way to determine how much and what type of fertilizer is best for roses growing in your landscape.

Check your plants throughout the season for signs of insects and disease. Early detection makes control easier. Remove insects or infested plant parts when discovered. Look for the most eco-friendly control options when intervention is needed.

Enjoy your efforts and improve your roses appearance by harvesting a few rosebuds for indoor enjoyment. Prune flowering stems back to the first 5-leaflet leaf. You can prune back farther on established plants, but be sure to always leave at least two 5-leaflet leaves behind on the plant’s stem.

Those gardening in cold climates should stop deadheading roses toward the end of the season. Allow the plants to develop rose hips. This helps the plants prepare for the cold weather ahead and increases hardiness. Plus, these red to orange fruits provide winter food for birds as well as attractive winter interest in the garden.

And if you don’t have roses, make this the summer you add one or more of these beauties to your landscape.

Gardening expert, TV/radio host, author and columnist Melinda Myers has more than 30 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 gardening books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening.  She hosts the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV and radio segments and is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Myers’ web site is www.melindamyers.com.

Rev. Mike Shiery
Pilgrim Bible Church
West Pine Street • Cedar Springs

“Blesssed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the untgodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.”

The story is told that J.M. Barrie, the distinguished author best remembered for giving us Peter Pan, once received a strange invitation to address a student body. That day the students were to be permitted to boo, hiss, and gernerally heckle any speaker they disliked. But he accepted the invitation. Standing before an audience whose obvious reslessness indicated a stormy time ahead, he began his speech with the words: “God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.” It caught the attention of the students and they listened quietly.

It may be that Mr. Barrie had in mind the December of old age. Certainly nothing is more beautiful than the chastened wisdom, the peaceful reveries and the grateful recollections of one whose face is turned toward life’s sunset. The memories of days gone is precious to those who have more sunsets behind them than before them. Memory is one gift of God that even death cannot destroy, and if we have invested in producing good memories we can cherish them and they can help sustain us even during difficlut times.

But December is not a matter of age or circumstance. Perhaps never before has there been so much loneliness, sorrow, and sin. All across the globe humanity is awash in a sea of despair. Yet there is peace in the midst of life’s storms. God’s Word offers His children “roses in December.” To delight in the law of the Lord and to meditate on it day and night; to think on whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely – this is the secret of peace and quietness, those roses in December.