Today I started a three-day botanical art workshop on Roses. My garden has a lot of roses as we have planted quite a few, mostly with a beautiful scent.

When we originally moved into our home five years ago there were no roses in our front garden which is south facing. We changed that and in the evening the smell is very powerful and heady.

One of the most impressive looking roses is a standard called ‘Deep Secret’. It is a rich velvety red rose with a particularly rich scent that suits its appearance.

This summer it was covered in juicy buds which have only just started opening. It was an ideal subject for my students this weekend. I say was because……..

…….This morning when taking my students out to cut a rose each as a subject, EVERY SINGLE ROSE AND BUD HAD BEEN CUT OFF. Not only that, the flowers had been picked to pieces and had been dropped in a trail along and out of our drive into the lane. Why would anyone do this? Why would someone be so destructive?

Luckily I had other roses and all were able to choose one they liked. Day one of the first day of the workshop has gone off without further complications. By the way the students are a lovely group of people.