Rosa Rugosa

Evening walk in the park where there is a large bed of Rosa Rugosa.  Some years these plants have every stage of growth displayed on the bushes at the same time but this year it is all hips - no flowers or buds to be seen.  Some hips are changing from green to golden yellow and then to this luscious red and some have become wrinkled and squashy.  They make a good Autumn show but soon the groundsmen will cut them back to the ground ready for next year's vigorous growth and show of flowers.  This bed stands up well to the rigours of park life - dogs, footballs etc. no doubt because the prickly stems keep all at bay. Not much rain after all,  here in the dry South.