Roses — Queen of Flowers

One of the really nice things about living where I do is that we have flowers blooming all during the year, even in December and January when it rarely gets below 32 degrees.

We have our winter, cold-loving flowers — the magnificent camellias — which delight us for months, as long as we don’t have a hard freeze. They and azaleas are probably the flowers I photograph most often.

The azaleas peak somewhat earlier now than they used to, from mid-March to early April. Then the late Spring and summer flowers appear: crape myrtle blooms, irises, roses, snapdragons. All of these flowers and many more grow prolifically at the city park gardens where I walk often. You mAy have seen pictures of them which I’ve posed in previous entries.

Today, I’m focusing on roses because this is really, when all is said and done, the Queen of Flowers. Endless varieties and shades of color from pastel pink and white to brilliant red, orange and yellow. They also grow in all the neighborhoods in our historic district: Noisettes, English roses, climbing roses and so many others. I need a plant guide to identify them all.

So it’s always a treat in store when I head to Hampton Park and see roses everywhere like I did the other day. But they grow and thrive there all year. A park/garden conservancy lovingly tends to the flower beds in this park and another closer to where I used to. Is it. Their hard work shows.

Here is a collection of roses I’ve photographed over the past couple of months. Enjoy!

https://www.flickr.com/gp/camas/2Ek48r