Table 1 lists popular rose varieties known to do well in Colorado.
We regret to inform you that Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ is not very good
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- Taylor Swift released her 10th studio album, “Midnights,” on Friday.
- Despite a strong start and scattered highlights, it’s an underwhelming album and one of her worst lyrically.
- The best songs are “Maroon,” “Question. ” and “Sweet Nothing,” but three others were ruled as skips.
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Taylor Swift released her 10th studio album, “Midnights,” on Friday.
This is the first set of all-new songs that Swift has released since “Evermore” in 2020. The renowned singer-songwriter has been busy rerecording her first six albums, including “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and “Red (Taylor’s Version),” which were both unveiled last year.
Amid rumors of another rerecording on the horizon, Swift surprised fans by announcing “Midnights” in August. She described the album, coproduced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”
“This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams,” she explained in a statement. “The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching — hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve. we’ll meet ourselves.”
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Three hours after the album’s release, Swift unveiled the extended “3am Edition” with seven additional tracks. However, Swift clarified that she sees the original 13-track edition as “a complete concept album” and these were “other songs we wrote on our journey,” offered as bonus peeks into her creative process.
Insider’s music team (senior reporter Callie Ahlgrim and senior editor Courteney Larocca) listened to the new album on our own, jotting down our initial thoughts track by track.
Here is what we thought of each song on “Midnights” upon first listen. (Skip to the end to see the only songs worth listening to and the album’s final score.)
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“Lavender Haze” is such a strong opener that it’s a red herring.
Ahlgrim: When those watery synths first entered my eardrums, I felt my eyes light up like a little kid’s.
I have spent many hours imagining what “Midnights” might sound like — agonizing even, since Swift declined to give us any singles or snippets beforehand — but I did not anticipate a return to the moody-pop landscape of “Delicate” and “Dress” (the two best songs on “Reputation”).
Swift teased “Lavender Haze” by telling fans she cribbed the title from an episode of “Mad Men,” claiming it’s a “common phrase that was used in the ’50s” to describe being in love.
But the song itself isn’t a picket-fence fantasy, rather a critique of that very expectation (“the 1950s shit they want from me”). Swift’s artful revolt results in one of the strongest couplets on the entire album: “All they keep asking me is if I’m gonna be your bride / The only kind of girl they see is a one-night or a wife.” (Every bait and switch was a work of art, haven’t you heard?)
Larocca: “Lavender Haze” is an immediate yes. It’s luxe. It’s airy. It’s an entire vibe, fresh and current. Lyrically, it’s quintessential Swift, who excels at redirecting common turns of phrase: Put “Damned if I do, damned if I don’t” on her desk, and she’ll hand back “I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say.”
Production-wise, it reminds me of “False God” but at a faster tempo. As someone with the correct opinion that the track is one of the best on “Lover,” I’m thrilled by this direction.
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“Maroon” is a sultry standout that recalls the best of “Reputation.”
Ahlgrim: If you got 2017 flashbacks from “Lavender Haze,” you probably weren’t prepared for the shimmery nostalgic rush of “Maroon.”
This song is imbued with the sexiest shades of “Reputation,” stripped of the album’s annoying maximalism: “The lips I used to call home, so scarlet” recalls the feminine lust that’s central to “Dress,” for example, and Swift’s delivery of “your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top rosé” could’ve been lifted straight from “King of My Heart.”
Larocca: “Maroon” is a brilliant play on Swift’s outdated color theory about love, adapting it to a relationship that I’d presume happened post-“Red” (She wouldn’t have been downing a bottle of discount wine prior to her 21st birthday) but pre-“Lover” (when she realizes love isn’t red, but instead “golden like daylight.”)
With swaths of scarlet, burgundy, ruby, rose, and obviously, maroon, Swift paints a portrait quite similar to that of “Dress”: “When you splashed your wine into me” is reminiscent of “I’m spilling wine in the bathtub, you kiss my face and we’re both drunk” while “Like you were my closest friend” seems to nod to “‘Cause I don’t want you like a best friend.”
There are shades of “Gold Rush” from “Evermore” too. “And how the blood rushed into my cheeks / So scarlet, it was maroon” recalls “I don’t like anticipating my face in a red flush.”
“Maroon” is an example of Swift’s best storytelling, the kind that carries across albums, shading in new hues and perspectives with each new addition.
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Selecting and Planting Roses – 7.404
by A.W. Nelson and C.E. Swift * (9/20)
Revised by Roger G. Heins & Alison Stoven O’Connor**
- Select a site in full sun or at a minimum 7 hours of sun with well-drained soil, free of competing tree and shrub roots.
- Select recommended plants from a reputable nursery or mail-order catalog and plant properly in good or improved soil.
- Plant bare-root and packaged roses in early spring and protect them by covering the entire plant with loose, loamy, moist soil, or a soil compost mix if the soil is clay, or use a mulch until the root system starts to function.
- Do not allow bare-root and packaged roses to dry out before and after planting.
- Plant budded roses so that the bud union is 3 to 4 inches below the soil line. Plant own root roses so that the crown is 2 inches below the soil line.
- If the soil is clay or clay loam, mix it with 1/3rd compost.
Roses can grow in most communities in Colorado. Colorado roses exhibit some of the most vivid colors seen anywhere in the country.
The American Rose Society lists 48 classifications for roses, but roses in Colorado can generally be said to fall into one of the following types: hybrid tea, miniature, floribunda, grandiflora, climber, shrub (which includes English and Canadian roses), polyantha and hybrid rugosa.
The hybrid tea, originally a cross between a tea rose and a hybrid perpetual, is the most popular garden rose. Generally, they produce large blooms on long stems and are preferred for exhibition and cut flowers. Miniatures are naturally dwarf roses and remain popular, especially in small garden spaces. With proper care, they are a good choice for potted indoor culture. Because of their hardiness, they are excellent for outdoor use.
The first floribunda was produced from a cross between a hybrid tea and a polyantha rose. These roses usually have smaller blooms than hybrid teas, but typically repeat blooming in clusters each season. They are somewhat hardier than grandifloras and hybrid teas.
The original grandiflora was produced from a cross between a hybrid tea and a floribunda. This plant is similar in size to the hybrid tea but usually has slightly smaller flowers and greater blooms.
The climbing hybrid teas and climbing grandifloras are generally not recommended for most areas of Colorado because most will bloom only on the previous year’s growth. During severe winters, the previous year’s growth on these climbers is damaged by cold temperatures and drying. This results in little or no bloom or blooms of poor quality the following season. There are, however, a number of repeat-blooming, large flowered climbers (LCL) that do well in Colorado’s climate. Most of these climbers will bloom on the current year’s growth (new wood) and have the added advantage of repeat flowers.
The term “shrub rose” is used loosely to cover roses not previously mentioned. Some of the hardiest of all roses can be found in this group. With its beauty, perfume and history, the shrub rose can be a satisfactory part of the landscape. Included in this group are the English Roses developed by David Austin. Canadian roses were developed under the direction of the Canadian Department of Agriculture for winter hardiness, disease resistance, ease of propagation and repeat blooming.
Hybrid rugosa roses are known for their fragrance , hardiness and sturdiness in the garden. They can be identified by their numerous thorns and dark green leaves with deep veining. The hips, left from spent blooms, are often showy in winter. These roses can perform in poor soils and drought conditions.
Selecting Plants
Roses are sold through mail-order nurseries, local garden and nursery outlets, hardware and box stores and grocery stores. Generally mail-order nurseries handle bare root, dormant roses. Local nurseries usually sell potted roses. Box stores and grocery stores may offer bare root or potted roses.
Most experienced rose growers prefer bare root, dormant plants from a reputable nursery. Potted roses are a viable choice only when the nursery has used good culture in the potting and care of the plants. Make sure bare root packaged roses are purchased before the plant has had a chance to dry out and deteriorate on the shelf.
Site Selection
Site selection is important. The best site would be an area that gets full sun with good air circulation. In windy sites, protect the roses from the prevailing wind.
A good second choice is a location that gets full sun during the early morning hours. This might be on the east side of buildings or an area that is shaded by trees in the afternoon. Locate the plants so they receive a minimum of five to six hours of sunshine. The early sunshine will dry dew off plants and help prevent diseases.
When choosing a location, avoid places where the roses have to compete with tree or shrub roots for water and nutrients. Good drainage is also a factor in site selection.
