For weeks I’ve been watching the development of buds on our roses. The buds started to open last week, but the sudden burst of hot weather seems to have accelerated everything. The buds open in the morning, are full-blown by the middle of the day, and by the evening are starting to look blowsy and exhausted.
I keep wanting to tell them,’Don’t do this! Take your time! It’s all happening too fast!’ I feel a bit like Faust, begging the moment to last. It’s actually quite hard to catch the moment when each flower attains its most perfect form, as it comes and goes so quickly. Linger over lunch and you’ve missed it! I don’t think I’ve ever seen the roses on fast-foward like this.
Your North American followers are joining you in a Faustian chorus. To make matters worse, our roses are almost two weeks earlier than usual. I’ve spent previous rose-growing seasons wishing and hoping for English weather, but now I see that this year will require a different strategy. (Perhaps a scattering of ice cubes at noon?)