FLOWER FRIDAY - THE QUEEN OF SWEDEN

After a very vigorous pruning last year, I have been watching my rose bushes very carefully and was thrilled when I went out into the garden yesterday to see that my Queen of Sweden rose was blooming - there was only one bloom with several other buds, but I was confident that I would have at least one to use as my Blip for Flower Friday.

This morning when I went out to take the photograph, although the rose is still beautiful, and perhaps even more so, both Mr. HCB and I were amazed to see how much it had developed since yesterday - so I have put yesterday’s photograph in as an extra, so that you can see too.

I guess that’s pretty much like us as people - we start off as a bud, then with gentle nurturing and the help of those around us, we begin to flower and find our way in life, then after a while, we realise our full potential and we are able to “bloom where we are planted”.  

I realise that is a very simple analogy and things don’t always go according to plan - looking at my beautiful rose, I can see there is an infestation of greenfly, and of course, we all know that roses have thorns, but it’s that thorny stem that has kept this rose alive, so although not all is perfect there, one of the bonuses is that it has a beautiful fragrance.

I’m hoping we get some rain soon - our garden desperately needs it - but would like it to be gentle rain and not the thunder, lightning and heavy rain that a lot of the UK has been experiencing - oh, and preferably at night!

"If you enjoy the fragrance of a rose, 
     you must accept the thorns 
          which it bears."
Isaac Hayes