Roses On a Stone Wall

There are flowers assigned to each month, just as there are birthstones. The rose is the flower for June. Although roses now have a reputation for being high maintenance floral divas, anyone who has seen a rose flourishing along the edge of a neglected parking lot or in front of an abandoned house knows that roses have perseverance. Their ancestors spread from the inhospitable heights of far eastern mountainsides all the way to the half-wild hedgerows of the British Isles. This fine specimen climbs up a wall in the Oxford Botanical Gardens. The stone wall is a textural counterpoint to its flamboyantly colored blooms. It’s easy to see why roses are one of the world’s most popular flowers.