Rose 'Fortune's Double Yellow'....it rained again today

Fortune's Double Yellow, an old China Rose, makes a huge sprawling plant that puts all it's energy into a single explosion of fragrant yellow flowers suffused with orange. Though it doesn't rebloom, I like it a lot...in spite of those thorns, thorns that are so much worse than they look. They're "small but fierce" as Robin Williams said of his....equipment in Death to Smoochie. (a wonderfully quirky comedy with Edward Norton) I think it's that little curve. And they're strong; they don't break off, they rip and tear cloth, flesh, hair, whatever. Interestingly though, and I attribute this to the curve as well, they don't catch leaves at all. Three large shrubs (6-10 feet in diameter) hadn't caught a handful of leaves between them. Adjacent plants, including a couple of roses, looked quite messy, but the 'Fortunes Double Yellows' were clean.

Camellia sinensis 'Unryu' contorted tea Camellia

Today was a miserable day; cold and gray with all speeds of rain ranging from a light drizzle to a steady downpour. I went out to take a look at this plant because I'd never seen a contorted camellia. I would swear that it was not flowering when it came in last week (from Camellia Forest). When I picked it up, there they were, sort of cute and pendulous! Wow, I don't get it. I've had a passing relationship with the species (Camellia sinensis) for 20 years or so (there's been one in my garden for almost that long) and their flowers aren't pendulous. And the filaments aren't that coral color. Anyway it's an interesting plant and I feel a slight twinge  of covetousness looking at the picture.

I do know that a contorted cultivar of the White Mulberry is 'Unryu' so I assumed it made some reference to the twisted curved branches and I guess it does. Googling unryu tells me that the word is Japanese (even I knew that) and can mean cloud dragon paper and, consider my ignorance, refers to a type of paper in which long fibers are added to a base pulp and result in a swirling textural pattern. There: I've convinced myself and will wait for someone with more knowledge to enlighten/correct me.