ROSES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 31 December 1924, Page 8

ROSES

(By in The Garden.)

Boses are beloved of pools—which might make you imagine that 1 have been digging'into' a . dictionary of quotations io find suitable passages around which to write a lew unnecessary words on roses. My remark, however, was introductory to raying that roses have always held the most prominent place of all flowers in the. world’s literature. Surely the reason is that they are unostentatious and that their simplicity is one of their greatest charms. Other flowers come and other flowers go in spasms of extreme popularly, but from the. dawn of time roses have held the affection of mortals so chastely ami so firmly tlpit they are still the favourite flower.

If is not only in literature that the 'rose is pictured; old Indian and Persian ’miniatures frequently depict a rose, in ,their flowery meads, while old mediaeval manuscripts are full of them. Italian pictures often show roses in the buck- ’ groitnd, “usually climbing a pallisade or rambling over a wall: in l'aet, the frequency with which they are found in art or mentioned in literature of all ages proves that the rose was constantly grown and beloved by people of all classes. Folklore is also on occasions connected with the rose. Did not Aphlodite. fall into a bush of wfiite roses while hurrying to lend her wounded 10ver...., The thorns tore her white skin ‘so sorely that ever after her blood lias died the white roses a deep red. RooCs ate often mentioned in Maypole celebrations. Which only proves that love ' of the rose lies very deep in our hearts. I This love seems to come from the fact that the rose is the personification of all that is pure, and unspoiled. Even j with dur modern craze for improvement it is obvious that- a rose is always ; a rose, which cannot be said of many |of our garden flowers. The shape may ■alter slightly and the colour he modi-

fied in various ways, but it remains a ' rose ‘for all that. The only fundamental 'change appears to me to be the increasing lack of fragrance. In the old days (and farther to the east even at the pre- ■ sent time its fragrance is no doubt one of its main charms. Miles of roses are j grown in the Balkans, in Persia and |:ni 1 India simply for the purpose eof Uis- ! tilling the essence, but in the sophist? cated West wo are too much inclined to limit our perception to exterior appearJ a rice and to leave the essentials an infei iior second. After all, the love of the I rose does nob depend solely upon Us ! present appearance—that l.tirmly believe; rather jsi there a great deal or th is love born in us, a legacy from eoUnth'Ss generations who loved tilt i,wj.» for itself when flowering plants u ore .few. Sortie day somebody will cv pi.lind to. ns trio psychology of iiowera. and explain why the beauty of the mag : . riclia leaves us startled, but cold, and | why the rose, even a miserable and be- ' draggled rose, reflects an inward light, and makes us warm and contented.

i It is not that in the old days roses i were not appreciated for decoration. Even in Roman times they were grown out of season and counted a luxury if produced in the winter; but ft is certain that in days gone by there was more ui the symbolical and less of the ornamental in the love of human beings for roses.

I ; 'lf. is pleasant- to see that something of thist original admiration for simplicity and ’purity remains, for you frequently hear of the old Scotch roses or the It'ork and, Lancaster being asked for Where they were forgotten 15 ye ays Ago. Perhaps mankind is getting tired of playthings manufactured by itself for its own amusement and it is returning to that, old love of floweivi that was. mot

far apart- from religion. If so, it is a •good omen; for artificiality in anything is supposed to be a sign of decadence,

'arid many of oui- garden flowers ap- | proach the artificial, j At any rate there is little doubt that a rose in .any form is . worthy of our sincere respect, and affection. The rose cult; is founded on a solid foundation j deep down in our hearts and it is worthy lof all the encouragement, that we can

give it-. The Americans in their enthuj isasm for strange cults have started a ! publication called “For Better DelphiniI urns.’ These stately Junoesque flowers are great, favourites of mine, hut they are raised, in such perfection at the present time tli'al this ebullition on the part lof our American friends is perhaps a [. little, excessive, If" they had only direct:ed their steps in the direction of a quarterly journal devoted to roses, it would have been more appropriate, for there is no flower so beloved tne world over.