In Bloom

This is "our" rose, (Georgians, that is)--- Rosa laviegata or Cherokee Rose.

It was favored by the Cherokee Indians who planted it along the tragic Trail of Tears and gave it their name. It was used as a fence(!) in antebellum Georgia because of its vigorous and thorny habit. It is our state flower. It is an incredible sight: glossy evergreen leaves covered with fragrant, pure white petals, dotted in the center by bright gold, clambering up and over a 30 foot pine. I have spotted them here in Augusta wildly and happily ensconced along the Calhoun Expressway and Doug Barnard Parkway, as well as in a neighbor's yard sedately pruned around a tall Long Leaf pine. My son, the birder, has a "saying" when looking for a certain bird called a Ruff: Learn the Ruff, be the Ruff, see the Ruff.

So...Learn the Cherokee, be the Cherokee, see the Cherokee.