Runners and Roses and a Mystery Tree

Oh darn.

I can't report on today's big news in Binghamton, NY because this is supposed to be a PG blog (during the Ultimate Blog Challenge, anyway).  So all I can tell you, before I launch into a gardening post, is that a co worker decided to go out for lunch today.  Driving down Main Street in Binghamton, she observed a sudden pile up of traffic in front of her, and a police car, lights on, right behind her.  The object of the police car's interest came running past a few seconds later.  Dodging cars, this man was apparently trying to beat the heat.

He was wearing sneakers.  And...uh...nothing else.

I wonder if we'll ever find out "the rest of the story".

So who says Binghamton, NY isn't...well, I was going to say "exciting" but that might be a poor choice of words under the circumstances.

So, back to our regularly scheduled blog.  (and if I get kicked out of the Challenge, oh well).

I realized today that I have not been posting garden-type blog posts too much recently, and I have a backlog of photos. Also, I realize that I had promised my regular readers pictures of the roses in bloom at our local Cutler Botanic Gardens back in June.

So, not as...oh dear, exciting...as the Binghamton Noontime Runner, are:  roses.  And not your everyday roses.  A lot of the varieties are the old fashioned roses, the ones that do not bloom through the summer, but their fragrance is so heavenly you don't care.

I didn't get a lot of pictures of those because I was too busy sniffing.  And I do have other rose photos taken around Binghamton, which I may share when winter sets in and there are no more flowers blooming outdoors.

This first pictures has the name tag at the bottom, if anyone has really good eyes.

This one is one of the old fashioned varieties, perhaps a cabbage rose.  If only we had blog-o-smell....

This next one is a  multiflora rose.

And a pretty red one.

And finally, this isn't a rose.  This is a blooming tree.  And, as happens enough times when you don't process things right after taking pictures - I forgot what it was.  Except that it is Japanese.  And the flowers were not scented.  Any guesses?  No prizes if you can name this tree, but I will thank you in the comments.