Rosa 'Abraham Darby'(orange) & Rosa 'Susan Williams-Ellis' 26 October 2022

The Spaniards have a very good memory for their history. When Lord Wellington and his army landed in Portugal and when they were approaching France, Napoleon’s brother Joseph (King of Spain) left in a rush on his way to New Jersey they came up with the term ‘despedirse a la francesa’ which translates to “saying goodbye French style.” Included in that is the idea that they leave without saying goodbye.

My roses are not French. Well some are and those Gallicas only bloom once in late spring. The roses in bloom today, 26 October 22 are English Roses bred by David Austin in Shropshire. They are remontant which means that they bloom more than once and in some cases often until late fall. The orange rose is a very sturdy Rosa ‘Abraham Darby’ and the white one R. ‘Susan Williams-Ellis’, as delicate as is looks, can take the cold, wind and rain.

I would say this is their last hurrah but in my lane garden there are a couple of Rosa ‘The Shropshire Lad’ and my single (5 petals) hybrid tea Rosa ‘Mrs. Oakley Fisher’ has a bud that is ready to open.

Who knows if I will have any more roses until spring of next year?

My two cats, Niño and Niña aren’t keen to get off my bed and today is one of the first days in a long time that I did not walk Niño around the block.

I believe unlike the French we are ready to fondly bid summer and fall goodbye.

And if you do not consider it true that Joseph Napoleon went to New Jersey, just look it up.