More on Favorite Roses – A Lovely Lady of Arcadia

With autumn’s stride lengthening as the days shorten, and the waning of the year well underway, this post might be most untimely. But here, sunlight still bathes the trees and lawns, the maples have only the merest touch of color and the roses are bursting with abundant blooms. The forecast calls for summer warmth – nearly 70 degrees – and although I have plenty of autumnal images I could include from years past (just to appear in the swing of things), I think I’ll take my cue from the billowing petals of the rose bushes and savor a few last days of the garden’s lush offerings before they have faded away.

Recent thoughts on my favorite rose, Lady Emma Hamilton, caused me some slight feelings of guilt and worry that I may have been premature in my absolute declaration. Alas, another beauty has emerged in delicious profusion from the lower front garden and now I am torn.

The Shepherdess, a David Austin rose named for a character in Philip Sidney’s Arcadia, and the star in all these images, covers her graceful stems with voluptuous blooms of cream and blush. Extravagantly fragrant, they exude the scent of myrrh, vanilla and almond and hold their scalloped petals for luxurious days on end – a marvel of perfect form!

And so, I am as yet undecided as to my favorite and feel this needs a resolution! After all, these things are important, aren’t they? Knowing unequivocally one’s favorite color, or season, or rose?

Perhaps it is too early to decide. The garden may yet have even more lovely inhabitants to reveal before winter’s mantle tucks them away from sight.