Still glorifying roses...

Two weeks ago, the yellow 'Graham Thomas' rose in the background got most of the glory in Anne and Peter's garden. This week, the foreground rose, 'Sunset...something' (it's coming to me...) is so beautiful we're wondering when Canon cameras will record scent. Anne figures we've broken some design rule, having a tall rose at the front of a bed, but all the better to sniff it.

Below, the panicles of a Hydrangea paniculata ('Kyushu' or a similiar cultivar) are just about to open behind 'Sunset...something' (my, I'm on top of my names tonight). The important botanical fact is that these rose cultivars are descended from old-fashioned roses; therefore, they tend to retain authentic qualities like fragrance and robustness, instead of sacrificing them for bred-for-market qualities such as repeat-bloom and wedding-cake-perfect-petals.

From the top step of the door stoop...

2010, The Year of The Big Bloom, recorded for posterity.