Other People’s Roses

I left it too late to go walking in the park today – & a little early for sunset, but I did manage a glimpse.

I walked down the street where I used to live, past my favourite tree – a huge lemon-scented gum that has now been protected by a ‘hesitage order’.  Great rambling thing, it is.  It’s frequently dropped branches and twigs provided me with kindling and firewood when I lived in the property whose corner it graces.  Its voice in the wind soothed, and the scent of it after rain cleansed the soul.  It is a beautiful tree.

I live in an old area with not too many razed to the ground and all their garden spaces taken up by two storey townhouses with no gardens.  And many of the gardens are old, with old roses.  Even houses that have been completely renovated have planted roses.  It is a beautiful area, slowly disintegrating into ‘medium density’ housing without the grace of green and garden.  A terribly sad thing, and not just for the loss of beauty, but for the loss of cool a garden gives.  It’s incomprehensible to me how, when temperatures are continuing to rise (hottest summer on record, hottest & driest March since records began in that late 1800’s) that councils don’t recognize the cooling effect of plants – not lawns necessarily, but gardens with tall growth instead of the ‘sculptured look’ of those grass type plants that give no shade nor anything for the wind to carry.

I love flowers, gardens, whether native or ‘faux European’ which do have a loveliness not found in the native Australian bush.  Don’t get me wrong – I love the native wildflowers, the trees – & I will post photos of those come September, after I’ve visited the wildflower festival.

But today, it’s just Mt Lawley (shire) within walking distance of my little feet.  And eventualy, I’ll figure out how to arrange the photos on the page…

So, mostly flowers today:

Now for a slew of roses, some damageed by the heat and endless sun, some loving it:

 

Hope you enjoyed them.  The last – the bud, is in a pot in my garden.  It has had more blooms this year than ever, and the scent is divine.

Keira.