Real Roses

I've never exactly been a huge fan of roses. There have always been plenty of other flowers that I think are far preferable. For that matter, growing most roses in northern Wisconsin is kind of a fool's errand anyway...the winter tends to kill them frequently. I'm also not a huge fan of florist roses. They are so conceited and impressed with themselves, while at the same time being rather undistinctive. On the other hand, one of the Master Gardeners brought in a big luscious bouquet of roses for the office. They are gorgeous! Most of them are actually David Austin Roses. I've decided these are roses I can live with.

Then Friday night the other Hort agent and his wife hosted an open house of his late mother-in-law's rose garden. She was a Rosarian, and had over 200 different roses in her yard. So we went out and I played with the macro setting on my camera. Most of her roses were tea roses, although she did have some nice shrub and climbing roses as well. Enjoy the pictures!