Fall is definitely in the air but as long as the weather stays mild, the roses will keep on blooming. I cleaned up the garden this weekend, pulling out all the bedraggled annuals and planted the rest of my spring bulbs. I saw some roses are still blooming but they are smaller than the spring blooms and the color is more intense. I saw this beautiful rose blooming next to my back door. It’s named Dr. Jane Goodall, to honor the legendary ethologist and conservationist, Dr. Jane Goodall.

Here is a lovely poem written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) that carries my sentiment for the season.

‘Tis the last rose of summer

Left blooming alone;

All her lovely companions

Are faded and gone;

No flower of her kindred

No rosebud, is nigh,

To reflect back her blushes

To give sigh for sigh.

 

I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one,

To pine on the stem;

Since the lovely are sleeping

Go sleep thou with them.

Thus kindly I scatter

Thy leaves o’er the bed,

Where thy mates of the garden

Lie scentless and dead.

 

Until next time. Stop and smell the roses.

Rosalinda Morgan