The saying goes: stop and smell the roses. This gardening season proved to figuratively and literally be just that for me. We encountered many trials and triumphs in the cottage garden, all of which inevitably caused me to slow down. Plus, I welcomed the scent and pretty nature of two new balcony roses — and guess what! The roses thrived.

From mid-May and well into August, my David Austin Roald Dahl shrub rose flourished. Nicknamed “James”, this beauty started by producing a flush of vibrant orange-red buds, and as the blooms matured, they stayed true their namesake. The rosettes unfolded into a soft, pale apricot hue — perfectly mirroring the giant peach in Dahl’s beloved novel.

Then there was my other David Austin shrub rose, Boscobel. Known for its medium-to-strong myrrh scent, these pretty pink petals filled the balcony with an intoxicatingly addictive aroma well into harvest season.

By the end of the summer I was collecting a second flush of spent petals to make a fragrant potpourri.

As autumn has set in and winter is looming, there’s no time like the now to slow down. Or, as I like to say, stop and smell the roses.