The first and last rose of summer

 

Burnet rose Rosa pimpinellifolia is almost always the first native wild rose to bloom, usually in late May. Often it produces sporadic late blooms: once, during a mild winter, I found a few flowers during a Botanic Society of Britain and Ireland New Year Plant Hunt.

This autumn burnet roses at Durham Wildlife Trust’s Low Barns Nature Reserve at Witton-le-Wear are putting on a fine floral performance on bushes that are already laden with ripe black rosehips from flowers that bloomed in June.

Their summer flowering was cut short by successive heat waves and drought, but now that autumn rain has arrived they’ve produced a burst of new growth and a wonderful display of fragrant flowers.

They looked particularly lovely this morning, as the mist cleared and sunlight, breaking through clouds, made the raindrops sparkle.