When the forsythia in my neighborhood begins to bloom, it's time to spring prune the roses.
This photo is Rosa eglantine, a rose that Shakespeare spoke of in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The rose is not fabulous to see, but walk past it at the right time of day and the 'green apple' fragrance is stunning. I should add the apple fragrance is from the leaves of the r. englantine.
"I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania some time of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight
"A Midsummer-Night’s Dream" (2.1.260-5)
A little note of curiosity:
R. eglantine is the only rose in my yard that attracts gall making wasps.
Here is a photo of the R. eglantine hips. (Shrub is only about three years old.)
