Category: Roses

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Desdemona – a new white English rose for 2015

Desdemona rose

I took my first picture of Rosa ‘Desdemona’ when I popped in to hug some dear friends working on the David Austin rose display at this year’s RHS Hampton Court Flower Show. Their new white English rose for 2015 was named to commemorate one of Shakespeare’s most independent, open-hearted and gentle heroines: an inspired choice!

Large fans were keeping the air circulating in the nearby Floristry Marquee to prevent the cut flowers wilting, but there was no such luxury in the Festival of Roses Marquee. The conditions were cruelly hot for humans to endure, but to my surprise, the roses appeared to relish being held captive inside a tent on the hottest July afternoon ever recorded in England.  Continue reading “Desdemona – a new white English rose for 2015”

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Off Season

Rose-garden-just-leafing-out

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.  Continue reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Off Season”