Abundance

This rose - Josephine Bruce - is one I've had for 25 years or so. Some years I've despaired of it; most years it's produced one or two splendid blooms in early July and then a few stragglers so late in the year that the first snow has embalmed them.

This summer is very different. These are the first blooms to appear, and it looks like a different rose altogether. There is more new growth than there has been in years, and look at the number of flowers!

The perfume, happily, remains.