Nobody said you shouldn't covet thy neighbour's rose

Saved from sin by a reverse image search

I was scrolling through my iPhone photos the other day (I can’t remember why) and came across this picture taken on a dog walk on 28 May 2024:

It hit me all over again. This rose is *stunning*. I mean, *STUNNING*. Have you ever seen anything like it? I haven’t.

I’m forever taking photographs of things as an aide-mémoire and then forget all about them.

Anyway. I have to have it.

I live on an estate built in the 1870s. The houses - and streets - are all identical. It is incredibly difficult to navigate even after living here for three years. Luckily, in a way that is super-duper creepy, my iPhone has recorded the exact location of the photograph, and therefore the rose.

So I know where the rose is. It is two streets away from where I sit typing this. But it is December. There is little point in going for a snoop around for further information.

I set to work trying to identify her with my one photograph.

What do I know about her? She has semi-double flowers and is white. So I google (can you guess?) “semi double white rose”. The sponsored photographs pop up prominently at the top. Is she a Rosa Blanc Double de Coubert? Maybe… Or a Rosa Starlight Symphony? Definitely a strong contender. But is my neighbour’s rose a climber? I… can’t tell.

I keep scrolling.

Trevor White and David Austin links are offered. Both allow you to filter their products by flower form. I scroll through Trevor’s semi-double selection first.

Ooh! Perhaps she’s a Rosa Adélaïde d’Orléans. I stare at the two pictures side by side for a long time. It doesn’t look quite right. Keep looking. Is it Alba Semi-Plena? City of York? Avon? Avon seems very similar but it’s a ground cover rose. My neighbour’s rose doesn’t seem to have that habit.

I turn to David Austin. Is it The Garland? Robbie Burns? Mountain Snow? How long should I keep looking?

I go back to google. “Semi double white rose pink stamens”.

Is it Rosa Sally Holmes? Rambling Rector? County of Yorkshire? Why are County of Yorkshire and City of York so similar? That is psychotic.

Why doesn’t the internet want me to find this rose? Why are there so many roses that look so similar? Why isn’t there a central database for roses? Is a higher being trying to teach me a lesson about envy? Greed?

I KNOW! A reverse image search!

YES! I FOUND HER! Google reverse image is certain. And there can be no doubt it is her: Rosa Jacqueline du Pre.

Oh yes, it’s her. Beautiful, layered semi-double white petals, and vivid pink stamens. Oh she is divine.

And there’s even better news. She’s a repeat flowerer. No one with a small garden would ever buy a non-repeater, even if she is exquisite.

This blows my mind: For a mere £12.50, this stunningly beautiful, perfect rose can be mine.

(I know, I know. I could pop over to my neighbour’s and ask for a cutting in the spring and have it for free but come on. I can’t wait that long for flowers!)

Aside from a book, what other thing in the world costs £12.50 and would provide a lifetime (or more) of repeated beauty and pleasure? Tell me! If there is anything else I need to know about it. I’m pretty sure it’s just books and plants.

No more coveting for me. Soul saved.