Lady Emma Hamilton

My fears about the effect of yesterday's rain on these blooms was well-founded: when I went out this morning they were lying in a neurasthenic attitude across a nearby heuchera, which was not appreciating the experience, and no persuasion by me could induce them to lift again. That is the big drawback of David Austin roses, I find - the stems tend to be thin and lax, and the bushes collapse under stress. Luckily, they do come with compensations!

Anyway, I faffed about for a while, trying to no avail to prop the stems up at least enough for the blooms to be photographable, and then lost patience, fetched the secateurs and snipped them off. I then spent a happy half hour wandering round the house with them to see where the light was best to photograph them; followed by a less enjoyable three hours editing and culling the 56 shots I somehow managed to take.

"So, what did you get up to today?"
"Oh, you know - stuff..."

In the end neither R nor I could decide on a single favourite image, so I've put in the other one I really like as an extra.

By the way, the roses are now on the kitchen table, and the room is filling with the most glorious perfume - "Peaches and something," said R. "Strawberries," I said. "That's it - peaches and strawberries!" Just lovely.

Many thanks to BikerBear for her challenge Flower Friday.

I hope you all have a good weekend. :)