Roses

LG and I went to the Heritage Rose Gardens today.   Roses sort of grow like weeds in this area, but the Heritage Gardens have some awesome varieties.  like blue roses.  I know, "blueroses" sounds like a lung disease.  But aren't they beautiful?

The garden has a long,long arbor overgrown with climbing roses.  There are benchesalongthe inside ofthearbor.  I can imagine being in there on a hot sunny day, ready to swoon from the intensity of the perfume.

They had miniature roses with blooms the size of a quarter, and  others the size of a salad plate.  They had climbing roses that wove themselves into the nearby trees and threw heavy white trusses of blossoms a hundred feet high. They had roses that were one color in the bud and another color when they opened.  They had old-fashioned cabbage roses and hybrid tea roses and rugosa roses which people in Scandinavia grow because they have colorful hips that can be brought into the house for something fresh and cheery in the middle of winter.

 And they have elegant, simple wild roses in their five-petaled classic beauty.  

We walked and sniffed, sniffed and stared.  Small birds chirped and tweeted all around us, and LG no doubt wished for her binoculars.  Swallows swooped low over the rose beds, and though the day was overcast and windy, the rain held off until we were ready to break for lunch.  We picnicked in the car, cozy in the warmth and that wonderful feeling when  the rain is pounding down outside, and you are safe inside with someone you enjoy who brings out your best side.

Make new friends, but keep the old.
One is silver and the other is gold.