When Labor Day came to mind, I thought of rose hybridizers– for three hundred years, their passionate efforts have provided the world with amazing roses. To name a mere handful:

. . . their creative obsessions gave me the lovelies shown here: Escapade; Soaring Spirits; Sweet Chariot; Paul Bocuse; Poulsen's Pearl; Windrush; Perle d'Or; Duchesse de Brabant; Happenstance; Little White Pet.

The vases, glasses actually, are a recent purchase (and inspiration) from Anthropologie, and the roses are leftovers from big bouquets. Choosing loose, fully open blooms was a sweet change from the fresh, turgid blooms I usually work with. The results seemed so festive and feminine–I should have had a party. Wishing you a lovely labor day-- maybe you will be in your garden . . .

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.

~Albert Einstein