The splendor of roses in Daydreaming on the Porch

A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world.

Leo Buscaglia

Who doesn’t love roses? They are one of Nature’s most sublime gifts.

What would Valentine’s Day be without roses? Many consider them to the most perfect and fragrant flower, and it would be hard to disagree, although I have my own favorite flowers, including roses. My mother loved them, and when I was caregiving I always had cut flowers in the house for her. Each week I have a small bouquet of flowers delivered and placed next to a framed picture of her because nothing brought her more happiness than flowers. The one I received today has about a half dozen small red and yellow roses.

Sadly, I’ve lost most of my sense of taste and smell over the years, but I can still fairly detect the sublime fragrance of roses, honey suckle, ligustrum, tea olive, and gardenias.

I’m fortunate to live only 10 minutes from a large city park whose gardens are filled with roses most of the year, except for winter. Each time I’m there for my late afternoon walk I pass those roses and they have been especially beautiful the past month or so. Here it is late November and I’m still taking pictures of them.

Most of them appear to be varieties of old French roses, as indicated on my plant identifier app (Highly recommended: PictureThis). This rose is also called Gallic rose and Provence rose.

I’m including a link to an album of rose photos from Hampton Park Garden taken over the past couple of months. The last rose in the set is a classic example of a French Rose.

In this awful year 2020, what a distinct pleasure to be reminded of the miraculous beauty of Nature.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/camas/U76x74

https://sharonsantoni.com/2015/03/charm-old-french-roses/

https://web.extension.illinois.edu/roses/history.cfm