A trip to a garden shop yesterday put me much in mind of spring. Though it’s cloudy and rainy today, yesterday it was warm and sunny, and the shop had everything, it seemed, except the one plant I was looking for.

That would be a climbing rose. This old-fashioned beauty is no longer in favor, it seems. All eyes are on the knockout rose, its flashy second (or third?) cousin. 

Knockouts are beautiful, and easier to grow than most other varieties, but long ago I fell in love with climbers and am stuck with the attraction now. In a few weeks I’ll post a photo that will explain why. For now, though, a picture of some magenta phlox I spied on a walk the other day. They’re perfect enough to be in a garden shop themselves.