Where I live the winters are just a bit harsh for ROSES....but when first putting in my gardens I tried anyway. Out of perhaps a dozen ROSE bushes over the years I have just a single one that has survived and it takes all kinds of babying each Autumn to assure it will come back the next season.

Shrub ROSES, however, are very different and MUCH hardier. I have two- a red one and a white one. They live right next to each other in the 'Big Rock Bed' and flower once in June- at the beginning of the season and a second time in August- at the end of the season. I can hardly believe that I am talking about the end of the gardening season at my place.....but I am now marking time until the flowers stop blooming in weeks rather than months.

The image seen here shows the second blooming of the White Shrub ROSE. It is covered in hundreds of these silky white flowers....all going in different directions.....quite spectacular actually. Yet I've found that it's beautiful white blossoms are much more dramatic if I photograph them after the sun goes down....as I did here.