We Love The Stars Too Fondly

These are smaller, not the huge, softball sized blooms like the others, more like exploded ping-pong sized balls of red.

They’re not clean or pristine, more tattered and battered. But they have that deep, purplish red color in spades.

Worn on the edges, but pollenating like no one’s business.

Come and get some of THIS, bees!

And while the thorns are quite sharp, frequent guests in the stems and leaves are the elusive little wrens that are so loud, so tiny, flittering madly, equally oblivious to the needle-sharp points and the dusky red beauty all around them.

Some roses out there along the driveway are pink, light red, dark red, yellow, white, orange – and then there’s this one.

Mostly pink around the edges, yellow in the middle, bits of red and white… It’s not a “mutt,” it’s a living symbol of the beauty that lies in diversity.

I’m no biologist, I don’t know the mechanics and methods of cross breeding roses, but this one might come from a few generations being out in the middle of all of the rest of them.

Unlike its neighbor, this pink rose has a deep, vibrant color, and is still just opening, so it’s not full of dirt, debris, and “bee stuff.”

This picture is off-center, but I really liked it that way. The pink contrasts well with the greens.

The wind was blowing a ton when I took these, and especially on these macro shots, focus and composition are a crap shoot.

The photographer’s greatest friend these days is the digital camera! Memory storage is dirt cheap, where film was expensive as hell. If it’s windy, shoot 50-60 pictures, find the two or three that are in focus.

Why rely on skill when you can use statistics?

These are very open, the better to let in the bees!

I also love the tiniest bit of yellow tinge, and the gradation of the pink color near the edges, fading to white.

Deep inside, the iPhone 13 camera grabs details of the rose’s sex organs. Pistils FTW!