Photo by Emily Buss
Patte and Howard Tomashek with their 9-foot Voluptuous rose. |
For many decades, Patte and Howard Tomashek have been perfecting their green thumbs. Whether they are tending to the large vegetable garden behind their house or watering the colorful array of flowers in their south-facing front yard garden, the Tomasheks are gardening enthusiasts.
A velvet red Voluptuous hybrid tea rose bush is the couple’s most prized plant, advertised to grow to five feet. Patte nurtured the bush for many years, but it wasn’t until recently that one branch began to grow taller and taller, now about nine feet. And the bush is still blooming.
“This is just an extra special flower,” Patte said. “The other roses have already bloomed and had their day. But this one just kept growing.”
Patte said the hot summer and lack of rain did take its toll on the bush, but she was able to cut quite a few flowers to brighten her home.
Surrounded by white oriental lilies, lilacs, yellow Snapdragons and purple Siberian irises, the Voluptuous roses make for the perfect centerpiece in the Tomashek’s flower bed.
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