“…. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet ….”

	No matter where we are traveling, when I see a rose growing on a fence, in a private garden or in formal gardens I cannot resist taking a photo.

I do not have a favorite color, although to me the Hybrid Tea is the most elegant. I never see the flaws. Sometimes after downloading I will notice a bug, or bee or a petal that a bug has enjoyed – but when confronted by their beauty I never see these things – and I don’t use any fancy editing programs to remove them later …. their natural beauty is without flaw.

For some reason I have trouble getting a good photo of pure red or pure white. The camera just cannot pick enough variation to give good detail.

The Rose Garden

Yesterday was one of those beautiful days that no matter where we are, or where we live, we glory in it. The temperature in Houston was in the mid 60s, the sky a bright clear blue, the sun bright and warm on the skin.   In celebration I drove into the med center area to visit the Rose Garden. The Rose garden is part of the Museum of Natural Science complex. Most of the year it has a pleasant, peaceful air, yesterday it was especially beautiful. The roses were in full bloom and loving the cool weather. The rose beds were surrounded by beds of marigolds and ferns (I would call them Horsetail ferns but they probably have another name.) No matter - the marigolds were as pleasing in their simplicity as the roses were elegant - an excellent garden combination.  I have heard several times over the years that Houston is not a beautiful city. If compared to the green mountains and the blue ocean separated only by a long stretch of buff colored beaches in Rio, it is not the most visual city, but taken by itself, measured on its own merit, it has moments of real beauty. The neighborhoods, streets lined with old live oaks, their branches meeting in the middle, and in the spring the front yards overgrown with azaleas, street after street of neatly kept homes and boulevards with beds of seasonal flowers, and many small neighborhood parks complete with bronze and marble statues, all these scenes combine to make Houston a city of clean and comforting beauty.