The Flickr Rosecarmine Image Generatr

Although autumn has now well and truly given way to winter here in Melbourne, there is still a great deal of colour around if you remember to take your time, stop and smell the roses, especially on a day like today. Although it is the middle of winter, it was a lovely and sunny day with bright blue skies today: although there was still a definite crispness in the air when the wind blew.

When I took my stroll, I walked past one of my favourite rose bushes, a "Lorraine Lee" which thrives in the original garden of a stylish 1930s Art Deco clinker brick double storey villa. Bathed in gorgeous winter sunshine the pinkish apricot blooms against the azure sky were too beautiful not to photograph.

The "Lorraine Lee" rose was bred by a famous Australian rose breeder named Alister Clark in 1924. It was named after Lorraine Lee, who was born in Melbourne in 1890, and was a cousin of Jessie Clark, Alister’s niece. During the Great War, Lorraine worked in the Women’s Land Army in England and the Ministry of Munitions, earning an MBE for her dedication. In 1920, on a visit to Australia, Alister showed her his unnamed rose seedlings and asked her to choose one. The rose she chose became Alister Clark’s most famous and popular rose "Lorraine Lee".

Although autumn has now well and truly given way to winter here in Melbourne, there is still a great deal of colour around if you remember to take your time, stop and smell the roses, like this vermilion beauty which I saw on a walk to visit a friend the other day.

The day I took this photo was a lovely and sunny day with bright blue skies: an unusually warm day for winter, although there was a crispness in the air if you were out of the sun. I thought I'd go for a walk and take advantage of the sunny conditions, as rain arrived the evening after.

I took a stroll in the autumnal sunshine the other day, and I walked past this beautiful bright pink rose which is thriving in the slightly neglected garden of a stylish Arts and Crafts Edwardian villa. This may be the last flush of blooms before winter.

Autumn is now coming to an end here in Melbourne, and the cooler winds of seasonal change are blowing away the remnants of the season, tossing the red, gold and orange leaves that now carpet the ground.

Friday, although officially the second day of winter here, was a perfect autumnal day in Melbourne: partially sunny, but not too bright, warm, but not hot, and perfectly still. Therefore I thought I'd go for a walk and take advantage of the sunny conditions and take some photographs.

I took a stroll in the autumnal sunshine the other day, and I walked past this beautiful pink, sweetly fragrant, rose which is thriving in the original garden of a stylish 1930s Art Deco clinker brick villa. I do not know the variety of rose, other than it is English and the bush is quite old. The little old Italian lady who lives in the house cannot speak a word of English, and I don’t speak a great deal of Italian, so I can’t ask her. She loves her garden, and she always has a wonderful show of rose blooms throughout the warmer months of the year. This may be her last flush before winter.

Autumn is now coming to an end here in Melbourne, and the cooler winds of seasonal change are blowing away the remnants of the season, tossing the red, gold and orange leaves that now carpet the ground.

Friday, although officially the second day of winter here, was a perfect autumnal day in Melbourne: partially sunny, but not too bright, warm, but not hot, and perfectly still. Therefore I thought I'd go for a walk and take advantage of the sunny conditions and take some photographs.

Autumn is now well and truly with us here in Melbourne, and the cooler winds of seasonal change are blowing away the remnants of summer, like it tosses the red, gold and orange leaves that carpet the ground.

Today was an Indian summer day, an oddity between the colder rainy days. Therefore I thought I'd go for a walk and take advantage of the sunny conditions.

On my way I passed by this beautiful rose carmine coloured rose bloom, which may be amongst the last of the autumn roses. It caught my eye from across the street with its vibrant colour. It looked so beautiful in the sunlight against a backdrop of golden elm leaves

When I took an afternoon stroll in the spring like sunshine of late August, I walked past one of my favourite rose bushes, a "Lorraine Lee" which thrives in the original garden of a stylish 1930s Art Deco clinker brick double storey villa. Bathed in spring light the pinkish apricot blooms against the azure sky were too beautiful not to photograph.

The "Lorraine Lee" rose was bred by a famous Australian rose breeder named Alister Clark in 1924. It was named after Lorraine Lee, who was born in Melbourne in 1890, and was a cousin of Jessie Clark, Alister’s niece. During the Great War, Lorraine worked in the Women’s Land Army in England and the Ministry of Munitions, earning an MBE for her dedication. In 1920, on a visit to Australia, Alister showed her his unnamed rose seedlings and asked her to choose one. The rose she chose became Alister Clark’s most famous and popular rose "Lorraine Lee".

Although this photo was taken in winter on an unusual sunny day, spring has finally come to Melbourne after a long and grey winter, and everywhere, gardens are bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

I took a stroll in the sunshine in early August, and I walked past this beautiful pink, sweetly fragrant, orange rose which is thriving in the original garden of a stylish 1930s Art Deco clinker brick villa. I do not know the variety of rose, other than it is English and the bush is quite old. The little old Italian lady who lives in the house cannot speak a word of English, and I don’t speak a great deal of Italian, so I can’t ask her. She loves her garden, and she always has a wonderful show of rose blooms throughout the warmer months of the year.

Although this photo was taken in winter on an unusual sunny day, spring has finally come to Melbourne after a long and grey winter, and everywhere, gardens are bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 1st of October is “flora SOOC”. Do you know what SOOC is the acronym for? I certainly didn’t, but luckily our “Smile on Saturday” administrator, Maria, kindly advised that it means “straight out of the camera”. Therefore, no post-processing to sharpen the image, alter the colour or anything else is allowed. This theme suits me very well for two reasons: firstly, it is spring where I live so I have been photographing lots of new spring blooms, secondly, I don’t tend do a great deal of post-processing of my images anyway. Therefore, this was a wonderful theme for me! I hope you like my choice of image for the theme, and that it makes you smile.

I took a stroll in the spring sunshine the other day, and I walked past this beautiful pink, sweetly fragrant, rose which is thriving in the original garden of a stylish 1930s Art Deco clinker brick villa. I do not know the variety of rose, other than it is English and the bush is quite old. The little old Italian lady who lives in the house cannot speak a word of English, and I don’t speak a great deal of Italian, so I can’t ask her. She loves her garden, and she always has a wonderful show of rose blooms throughout the warmer months of the year.

Spring has finally come to Melbourne after a long and grey winter, and everywhere, gardens are bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

I took a stroll in the spring sunshine the other day, and I walked past this beautiful pink carmine, sweetly fragrant, rose which is thriving and sending forth new blooms in the original garden of a stylish 1930s Art Deco clinker brick villa. Reaching for the blue sky, and bathed in spring sunshine the vibrant pink bloom was too beautiful not to photograph. I do not know the variety of rose, other than it is English and the bush is quite old. The little old Italian lady who lives in the house cannot speak a word of English, and I don’t speak a great deal of Italian, so I can’t ask her. She loves her garden, and she always has a wonderful show of rose blooms throughout the warmer months of the year.

Spring has finally come to Melbourne, and everywhere, gardens are bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

The opening of Fräulein Maria’s favourite things are "raindrops on roses", so perhaps she would enjoy this rose bloom, the last for the season on a bush in a garden where it survives on nothing but neglect, which I photographed on a stroll back in June. It was so vibrant and striking! The magenta colour in the bloom caught my eye from a mile away, and the way it is covered in raindrops, makes her a bejewelled beauty. Looking at this, I can well understand why raindrops on roses may well be one of Fräulein Maria’s favourite things.

Autumn in Melbourne is always beautiful, and we are fortunate enough to have some beautiful big blue sky days as part of the season. On one such day, I took a stroll and saw the last few remaining pale pink roses on a bush for this autumn season. Bathed in soft autumn sunshine the pink bloom was too beautiful not to photograph.

Melbourne has experienced a wonderful Indian summer this year, and as a result, not only are there still plenty of beautiful blooms about, but the Autumnal colours are starting to appear.

Autumn in Melbourne is always beautiful, and we are fortunate enough to have some beautiful big blue sky days as part of the season. On one such day, I took a stroll and saw what may well be the last of the pale pink roses on this bush for this autumn. Reaching for the blue sky, and bathed in autumn sunshine the pink and yellow tinged bloom was too beautiful not to photograph.

Melbourne has experienced a wonderful Indian summer this year, and as a result, not only are there still plenty of beautiful blooms about, but the Autumnal colours are starting to appear.

When I took an afternoon stroll in the spring sunshine a few months ago, I walked past this beautiful pink and pale yellow sweetly fragrant, rose which is thriving in the original garden of a stylish Edwardian weatherboard villa. Reaching for the blue sky, and bathed in spring sunshine the bloom was too beautiful not to photograph.

Spring in Melbourne this year was particularly beautiful, with gardens bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

When I took an afternoon stroll in the spring sunshine a few months ago, I walked past this beautiful pink sweetly fragrant, rose which is thriving in the original garden of a stylish Edwardian weatherboard villa. Reaching for the blue sky, and bathed in spring sunshine the pink bloom was too beautiful not to photograph.

Spring in Melbourne this year was particularly beautiful, with gardens bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

When I took an afternoon stroll in the spring sunshine a few months ago, I walked past this yellow and red candy striped rose, a rarity in these parts, in the well maintained garden of a converted 1920s church. The vibrant blooms basking in the sun were too beautiful not to photograph.

Spring in Melbourne this year was particularly beautiful, with gardens bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

When I took an afternoon stroll in the spring sunshine a few months ago, I walked past this yellow and red candy striped rose, a rarity in these parts, in the well maintained garden of a converted 1920s church. The vibrant blooms basking in the sun were too beautiful not to photograph.

Spring in Melbourne this year was particularly beautiful, with gardens bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

When I took an afternoon stroll in the spring sunshine a few months ago, I walked past this yellow and red candy striped rose, a rarity in these parts, in the well maintained garden of a converted 1920s church. The vibrant blooms basking in the sun were too beautiful not to photograph.

Spring in Melbourne this year was particularly beautiful, with gardens bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

When I took an afternoon stroll in the spring sunshine a few months ago, I walked past this bush bursting with beautiful pink, sweetly fragrant, roses in the well maintained garden of a stylish 1910s Arts and Crafts villa. The vibrant pink blooms were too beautiful not to photograph.

Spring in Melbourne this year was particularly beautiful, with gardens bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.

Every Christmas and New Year, if I host a luncheon or dinner, I always have a floral centrepiece. The centrepiece is what I enjoy most about my table setting. This year for my New Year dinner part my florist supplied me with a striking range of different shades of pink roses.

The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 15th of January is “la vie en rose” which is French for “life in the pink”. The subject is not important, but what is, is that pink is the predominant colour. When I read the theme, I immediately thought of my New Year centrepiece. Sadly on its last legs a week on from New Year at the time of photographing, I did manage to find a few blooms that were still well formed and pink. This is the bloom I ended up choosing. It seemed to be the perfect for the theme! I do hope that you like my choice, and that this photograph makes you smile!

I took an afternoon stroll in the spring sunshine the other week, and I walked past this beautiful pink, sweetly fragrant, rose which is in the well maintained garden of a stylish 1930s Art Deco clinker brick villa. Highlighted in the dappled light the pink bloom was too beautiful not to photograph.

Spring has finally come to Melbourne, and everywhere, gardens are bursting forth with beautiful coloured blooms in a profusion of colours after a wetter than usual winter.