I grew up in a landscape of lush green grass and towering trees – the climate would allow a few nice flowering plants, like azaleas, camellias, hydrangeas, and gardenias, but the Southern gardener would have to work really hard to get roses to bloom as rampantly as they do here in my neighborhood. I took every photo of the roses you see above while taking the daily constitutional with the Critter. I have to knock on the doors of some of our neighbors’ houses and introduce the Critter and myself so that we don’t get arrested for trespassing. Some of the yards are so inviting – if I were the Critter’s age I would be certain that there were a few fairies and trolls hiding on the petals. I was once interviewed for a very interesting article on roses in Beverly Hills Design and Life by Patricia Lamkin, and you can read it here.