Wild Rose – Rocky Mountain National Park

Springtime in the Rockies. The snow is pretty much gone except up above tree line and on some of the deep north facing slopes. Wildflowers are blooming everywhere they can grow and it just, just, might be Spring. The days are staying in the mid-60’s. The nights can still be cold and there’s rain. A  lot of rain for us. Everything is greening up and in some parts looks like we think Ireland would look like if we had ever seen Ireland. All we know is it’s supposed to be green there and it sure is green here, so, there you are, must be green like Ireland then.

Now is flower time. And the first rose of summer is the wild rose. Small delicate single petals instead of the multi-petal domesticated roses we grow in the tended garden. They come out as soon as the snow is gone. These are the ones that you’ll find growing around the foundations of some of the old log cabins and barns you find around here. Were they planted by the hand of some rancher’s wife who longed for the beauty of these delicate flowers or did they just arrive in some mysterious way to fill some spots that needed beautifying. I think maybe both.

Anyway they’re pretty and I like them. They don’t last all that long but some say beauty doesn’t. I don’t know I’m just thankful Spring is here and the first rose of Summer has arrived.