A rose garden is a still, expectant place in England in late May. These shrub roses are lush, just budding out, pruned low. The young, bronze tinted foliage (characteristic of some varieties) gives the first hint of colour among the shades of green. The box and yew hedging is trimmed into shape: the bare bones of the garden are on show. For rosarians, this is an exciting time, not just because of the life emerging everywhere, every day, but in anticipation of the flowers (and visitors) that will soon change everything.
I took these pictures at my old stomping grounds, David Austin Roses, in the Midlands, when nobody else was around. There the earliest rose varieties start flowering in May, but the garden explodes with colour sometime around from mid-late June to early July, depending on the season. It’s fast approaching that time now…
You didn’t seriously expect me to leave without showing you a few flowers, did you? I don’t have exactly the same view, but this is pretty close. I take so few pictures of garden scenes, that I feel lucky to have found this one.
Posted for the weekly photo challenge: off season.
Susan Rushton 
Quite a garden, even in the preparatory stage!
janet
Yes – and this is just one of several different garden rooms. The one next to this where roses are grown with herbaceous plants is probably my favourite.
Beautiful! I was told that David Austin roses are disease resistant .. Wish mine were
Gosh, I had resist a strong urge to go into ‘help desk mode’ when I saw your comment: help to choose varieties for your climate; how to keep them healthy; what exactly is disease resistance when it comes to roses; issues about getting roses into New Zealand… but luckily I quickly thought ‘Heck no! – this is my personal site – that’s what rose forums and the help desks of rose companies are for!’ So I’m just going to say ‘Yes, beautiful!’ and give a broad smile 🙂
Mmm…if I close my eyes I can almost smell them. I so wish I had more of a green thumb, but I’m just as happy to live vicariously through those that do. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I really like your writing – the prose suits the pictures. I wish I could write in such a descriptive manner. Also love the photos, what camera do you use?
Thanks for such a kind comment. These were taken with a Canon G11 but I increasingly use my iPhone, especially for landscapes.
The close up of the coral-pink rose is absolutely gorgeous!
I love that you created a whole story here, including the ending. You take lovely photos, but you also write well.