What joy, after a few days absence from the garden in daylight hours, to discover the Bourbon rose Souvenir de la Malmaison hitting its straps! I picked the very first flower of the season a couple of weeks ago, but these three display the rose at its various stages of magnificence….from the sturdy petals of an unfurling bloom, the inner petals still a deep, velvet pink; through to the squashed, flat & open face of one almost spent. She can be problematic, but the current weather conditions are idyllic for her to be on her best behaviour!
I’m not really about to go swanning around the garden with fresh flowers pinned to the brim of my hat, but I couldn’t resist setting off the romantic colour and form of this heavenly rose against the straw of my favourite new hat (soon to be stocked in very small quantities – watch this space!). A little fanciful whimsy surely can’t hurt from time to time!