before the storm

The air is stale and still and the humidity's been increasing, palpably, for hours.The sky turned a dark blue - but it wasn't the sky, it was storm clouds gathering in the east. A flat, deep blue - you could almost mistake it for an evening sky, after sunset (but the sun hadn't set yet). The birds are quiet. Everything is waiting.

The storm is due any moment, and it's due to last all weekend and into next week. So, before the rain could spoil my beauties, I gathered them in (some of them, at least): Gertrude Jekyll and Evelyn (both David Austins), Morden Sunrise and some pretty pink thing whose name I've forgotten (I feel like a jerk! Maybe Fragrant Dream, or something like that?). After snapping this picture, I noticed some nice big blooms on the little Knockout rose I've been nursing back to health; I went out and cut a stem with a gorgeous, perfect red bloom and three little tight buds and stuffed it in the vase as well.

I also cut big swaths of avens roses and tucked them into vases and jars around the house; it feels like summer, however dark and lowering the sky, with flowers gleaming in every corner. The best season, the generous season, is upon us. (And if I forget it, I'll have the flowers to remind me - at least, until the sun returns next week!)