Over the next few visits I would like to introduce you to some of the charming roses that inhabit our garden.
My first choice is the stunning rambler: 'Paul's Himalayan Musk. This soft scented,vigorous rose is a dichotomy. Dainty sprays of apple-blossom rosettes flower with abandon, their slender stems arching gracefully under the weight of the blooms. If the summer breeze is travelling in the right direction one's senses are intoxicated by his soft Jean-Paul Gaultier scent. It is enough to stop you in your tracks!! This tenacious rose thinks nothing of climbing thirty feet high into the branches of a gracious host; whose reward is an abandom of blossom in June. However, don't mistake his grace & charm for weakness. Five years ago on a hot summer's day it was my sad task to fell the apple tree in whose branches this rose resided. The odds were against us, it was a blisteringly hot day & I had consigned myself to the possibility of losing the presence of this ephemeral rose in my life. Indeed the heat was such, that his amputated stems wept. We wrapped his roots in hessian & rested them at the base of our wise old Holly. These glorious photos are a tribute to the strength & tenacity of this gentle rose. Enjoy his presence, brief as it may be , for today his beauty battles with the enemy of transience---The Wind. As the petals dance across the lawn, I thank him for his presence & send him on his way.
