"Blue Moon"

Every year the local ward office gives away 1,000 rose bushes. People who live in the ward can apply and the winners are chosen in a lottery. We applied 2 years in a row and had luck both times! This is the one my husband won. It's called "Blue Moon".

I've had a lot of trouble with my roses this year and, at one point, I wasn't sure our "Blue Moon" was going to survive. Thinking the end was near, I put it in a corner of the garden and left it alone. (At that point I had done everything I could.) To my relief, it continued to grow, then produced buds, and finally bloomed just a few days ago. I'm so pleased! (There are 2 rose season here in Japan: late spring and fall.)