The roses are in bloom again after their short, three month hibernation. They will always remind me of the Mister’s grandmother, Fern, who loved and collected roses. Every time she would visit us she would stroll in our overgrown patch of roses, many of them decades old and no longer available through commercial growers. We got rid of over half of them last year, about a year after she died. I should count how many we have left.
I learned to float roses in water from my mother in-law, a trick that came in handy this week when the boys thoughtfully picked roses for me by grabbing the giants blooms with their fists. Yikes. I gave them my yearly lecture on how to cut roses, but I have a feeling I will be making the same lecture again next year…possibly next week. Luckily I knew just what to do with one of them. It went into grandma Fern’s bowl. I use it for good luck when I bake or to float roses. I think she would have approved of either use.
What a lovely photo. Sigh. I do love roses. But, alas, all I have at the moment are Lenten roses … though they are fabulous floaters!
mmmmm…i can almost smell it from here.
Remember how you were looking for a photo style? For me this picture captures really well how your style “feels” to me. It’s beautiful and classic.
You are freaking me out, because I thought the same thing last night. I looked at this picture of the rose and thought it looked like me. Not to say I am classic or beautiful…more that the picture seems traditional, slightly shadowed, and a little bit Latin, if that makes sense. I’m not doing a very good job describing what I am feeling, but I know what you mean.
I feel you Jules. And I know exactly what you mean about traditional and kind of Latin. I’d go even further and say the pic feels a bit Argentine, a little bit San Telmo if you know what I mean. Onces and media lunas and peeling wallpaper while people read the classics.
Also, freaking people out is an ongoing goal of mine. So mission accomplished.
oh, you and your So Cal weather with roses already blooming!! =) Lovely photo though!
Ok. What? I’m confused.
Why did you get rid of the rose bushes?
And please tell me you gave them to someone who would appreciate their historical value & beauty…
PS- In the south we float magnolia blossoms and gardinias. Both flowers’ fragrance permeate the room, reminding me of my grandmothers.
Sadly, some were going wild (huge, long branches without roses) and others were dying. The owners before us built a brick planter that didn’t have proper irrigation, so it often flooded. We had to take it out.
Lovely photo and even more gorgeous story:)