Abraham Darby, One, Two, Three

According to Wikipedia, Abraham Darby (I,II and III--1698 to 1791) was/were noted for their contributions in ironworking. Builders of bridges and steam engines, they were also significant developers in the uses of energy that propelled the Industrial Revolution.

David Austin has memorialized them (collectively) and their contributions to the advancement of industry and practical science in this beautiful rose which continues to bloom in southern California in November. I have found that this English Rose does not like the full hot sun of a Fullerton summer, even when sufficiently watered. Rather, it thrives in the spring and autumn when the cooler wetter weather mimics, possibly, a British summer.

Hard to imagine why David Austin named this delicate, fragrant cabbage-like rose after these captains of industry. (Clip a few blooms and put them in a vase. Bury your face in them every time you pass their way.) Possibly because it is very hardy and disease resistant. Abraham III's cast iron bridge over the Severn was so important, it caused a city to grow up around it. I guess it was the "Bridge to Nowhere" of the 18th century. Maybe this is what Ted Stevens has in mind with his bridge from Ketchikan, Alaska, to an offshore island inhabited by 50 solitude loving souls. (Cost to taxpayers, mostly not from Alaska--$223 million)

The bridge building Darbys were peace loving Quakers, much like the Inuits who strongly oppose the bridge and all it will bring in the way of change.

Ah Progress!