A rose in winter

I postponed doing my New Year Plant Hunt until tomorrow, partly in the hope of a nicer day, but to be honest mainly because of a rather severe hangover! This image seemed to sum up how I felt for much of the morning. There are lots of literary quotes about roses and thorns, many of them on the theme of accepting the rough with the smooth, pain with pleasure - this idea seemed apposite as it really had been a very delightful evening with friends. Being in a somewhat thoughtful, turn-of-the-year mood once the headache subsided, I took a liking to "Marriage has many thorns, but celibacy no roses".