Nearly 20 years ago, Sherry Eldridge and her husband moved to a new home, and they began almost immediately to create a backyard garden that mirrored the cottage-style décor of their house. Hardscapes were installed— white trellises, picket fencing, lattice walls, and charming one-of-a-kind birdhouses and bird feeders. Then, Sherry went to work putting in the plants. She didn’t start out with roses, but once she found a nursery specializing in antique roses, she fell in love with the oldfashioned garden plants it offered. “They’re so fragrant,” she says, “and they have the big, full blooms—the look we like.”
Now, hardy, deliciously scented roses climb the trellises, anchor the beds, and bloom with abandon around garden statuary. The selection includes antiques such as ‘Marie van Houtte’, introduced in 1871; the…
