Is a fake rose a rose? It always happens, doesn't it? The day before your garden party, there's a freak storm that wipes out every rose on your bushes.
Not to worry. Tammy Bayley has the solution. The North Carolina gardener has created New Blossoms -- weatherproof silk roses designed to be attached to your live-but-rose-less rose bushes. According to Bayley, the fake roses can withstand the weather but the tiny, hair-clip connectors won't affect the growth on your real roses.
Bayley claims her silk flowers have fooled her "snooty" neighbors (who "go on and on about the roses"), and even deer, a few of which have tried to take a nibble.
She admits her product probably won't appeal to rose fanatics, but said it's intended "for busy moms like myself who want to enjoy a beautiful garden. I'm not trying to change the world or anything like that," she said. "It's just fun."
Of course, it's a little late here in the northland to try to fool anybody into thinking your roses are in bloom. You'll have to wait until spring for that. But Bayley points out that the limited-time-only Preston Bayley Signature Rose Collection (red roses with lots of sparkles) looks great on a house plant.
A package of New Bloomers (in yellow, white, coral, pink or red) sells for $18.95 (plus shipping and handling) for one full bloom, two half-opened blooms and one bud. They are available at www.newbloomers.net.
CONNIE NELSON
