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We've had Melody Parfumée rose for several years. It's a grandiflora rose, I really like the unusual color, and it has a very pleasant, old-rose fragrance

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Crocus blooms are usually our first sign that Spring is getting closer. There still might be more snow and cold to come, but these bright and colorful blossoms mean that warm sunny days are ahead. The little bee in the third blossom is a nice bonus.

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Yesterday was a bright, warm, Spring-like day, and although I enjoyed it, I was surprised to see these beautiful daffodils in bloom in our front yard. I love those cheery, sunny blossoms, but they've opened about three weeks earlier than last year. I hope we don't have any more freezing weather, but it's a long time until Spring really gets here.

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There are many trees in the Glade. In Spring and Summer they are lovely shades of green. During Autumn they are brilliant yellow, golds and reds. Winter occasionally clothes them in white.

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I find that pictures of beauty to come helps get me through gray winter days. Clarence is a re-blooming iris in our front flower bed, so we get to enjoy it's pretty blossoms in both Spring and Autumn.

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I really don't appreciate cold weather, and it's cold when pine needles collect snow and ice. But even I will admit that pine needles can look pretty when decorated this way.

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If I had to pick one rose as mu all-time favorite, it would probably be Double Delight. This rose got its name because of its color and fragrance, but since it also has a beautiful form, it could just as well been called Triple Delight.

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One nice thing about photos is that they can bring summer and sunshine even into the dreariest of winter days. Strawberry Candy is a re-blooming daylily that we've enjoyed for several years now. It looks good even in January.

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One way to help winter days seem more bearable is to have photos from warmer seasons. Elle is a rose that we've had in our yard for several years now. It always puts on a beautiful show for us.

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Although this picture was taken several years ago when we lived in Hendersonville, Tennessee, I think it is a wonderful winter scene with the icy trees and blue skies. I also like the sun peeking around the branches of the tree.

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I know that almost all of the leaves on our trees have long since fallen to ground, but I like the look of the leaves on our dogwood tree as they turn each autumn.

This picture was taken in early October of this year.

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We have many things for which to be thankful. Some are major -- such as family and good health. Others are minor in the total scheme of life, but nice just the same. This rose, Perfect Moment, decided to bloom on Thanksgiving Day, in spite of near-freezing temperatures the night before. The petals are more leathery than normal, but we think this rose picked a perfect moment to bloom.

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Another of our November-blooming roses is Love and Peace. This rose is one of several in the Peace family that we have in our yard. All of them are yellow-red bicolor roses with a light fragrance.

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On a personal note, Betsy and I are taking a few of days off for some much-needed R&R. We hope you all will have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We'll see you after Thanksgiving.

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We've had several nights with temperatures below freezing, but so far we haven't had a killing frost. As a result some of our roses are continuing to bloom -- they don't pay much attention to the calendar. This blossom on our Peace rose opened yesterday (Sunday). The colors are a little darker than they usually are, but I still think it's a beautiful rose.

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Although we had below-freezing temperatures last weekend, some of our roses are continuing to delight us with blossoms. Perfume Delight not only looks beautiful, it earned its name because of a delightful fragrance.

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The picture above was taken this past Thursday (October 27). It shows two of our irises in bloom in the flower bed near the road in front of the house.

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The temperatures here on the Plateau dropped to near freezing a couple of times last week, but our roses are still trying to beautify our home. This picture of Moonstone was taken this past Friday (October 21) afternoon. Moonstone is one of our newer roses, but we have come to love this white rose with the pink edges.

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Another rose that is trying to give us some autumn beauty is Sheer Bliss. It's a very pale pink that has provided us with many beautiful blossoms this year.

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We're beginning to see signs of autumn color here on the Plateau. I captured sunlight through the leaves of our dogwood tree earlier this week. I like thee result, so I'm sharing it with you.

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Our newest flower bed contains a variety of plants -- roses, irises, lilies and day lilies. They all put on quite a show this year. I got this picture of this pretty lily -- Touching -- in May of this year. We were delighted that it bloomed while we were home and could enjoy it.