Come Into the Garden, Maud - VI

The first rose of summer:

A Rose Is A Rose Is....

.... an old, beloved friend.

This weekend over at Big Ass Belle, Lynette mourns the passing of an old friend. Lynette's writing is one of my daily pleasures and is always guaranteed to cause a reaction: anger, indignation, outright laughter, a simple smile of recognition or reflection.

Saturday's entry on her Madame Alfred Carriere climber got me thinking about how much I will miss our garden and how indeed it is possible to consider familiar flora as friends. When we bought the house four years ago, a beautiful mature garden came with it - overflowing with perennials: Iris, hostas, bleeding hearts, poppies, scented geraniums, day lilies, roses - climbers and bushes, ponies and things I don't even know the names of. It has been a joy watching it over the past four years - as it is now in the first flush of spring and as it becomes with the changes in season.