Jude the Obscure (for Flower Friday)

I thought I'd blipped the last garden rose of autumn about a month ago (see here) but my Editor noticed several days ago that there were two or three healthy-looking buds on another of the bushes. She reckoned it was too cold for them to open up outside so she clipped them off and put them in a vase in the house.

Lo and behold, this one has opened up very nicely. It has the odd name of "Jude the Obscure" from the Thomas Hardy novel (one of the few literary novels I've ever actually found time to read so it rather appeals to me). Seemingly this variety was introduced by David Austen in 1995, and it won the Corona Regina Teodelinda Perfume Award in Monza, Italy. It certainly has a delicious strong fruity fragrance and the blossoms are unusual in having up to 70 petals.

I was going to try out the focus stack mode on my new camera but realised that it looked better in a single shot with some depth-of-field effect.

Bikerbear (Anni) has now completed a magnificent two years of hosting Flower Friday - and she's still happy to continue!! Three cheers for Anni, that's an amazing achievement - thanks so much!