In New Jersey, there’s always a second flush of roses in September.
It’s a heart-warming sign of hope, one that inspired a visit to the Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit.
The arboretum is highlighted with vibrant colors at summer’s end. As its website promises, every season there’s something new to explore.
Below are a few photos I took of the grounds in early September, and I’ve posted more here:
September is my favorite month. Full of curious sites and wonders. I was born in September, and I was married in September. During the ceremony 33 years ago this weekend at St. Mary’s Church in Nutley, Nancy and I presented roses to our mothers at the time of the greeting of peace.
This September, there’s a single pink/white rose in bloom at the entrance of my driveway. It reminds of a poem I wrote for my bride, with apologies to Sonnet 130:
Eleven Roses for Nancy
Alas, alack, I have to disagree
with Shakespeare: my love is rare -- her hair red,
like an Irish setter's, and her eyes green,
the envy of the cat beneath my bed.
I see, in her reflective gaze, nine lives --
defying death (despite devout clichés),
perchance to live forever in this rhyme.
Her form belies my unpoetic ways.
If God's Own eye is something like the sun,
then true love is a flower, I propose.
And my love is a dozen, minus one.
Imperfectly inscrutable: one rose,
one rose, one rose, one rose, one rose, one rose,
one rose, one rose, one rose, one rose, one rose.
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I’ve added this post to the page “32 Stories About Places in NJ.” Visit there for more stories and images from around the Garden State.
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