ROSES

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12008, 10 December 1924, Page 1 (Supplement)

ROSES

A SKETCH. Before passing thro’ l the doorway, reminiscent perfumes ,of all thq rosegardens you had loved in other lands •were wafted round about you. . Like the;effect of an invisible choir or orchestra, heard in the distant before some wondrous stage - scene is revealed to the expectant so these perfumes < heralded the colourful feast of heariiy'-that filled the spacious hall ■ . -r • i -.-- .v. '-j.

Roses! Roses! /Roses! Tiny buds/ half-blown blossoms, and full blooms/ w.itli their myriad petals of infinite variety gave joy tq the enraptured gazer. . . White roses were there in their stainless purity; buds and blossoms of perfect loveliness, with petals like floating snowflakes. Beside them, faint blush pink blooms, fit embleriis for some fond lover to send to the young girl that seems-to him to be tlie living embodiment of fragile loveliuess. .;

Golden yellow roses | Starry _ blooms with few petals, bringing to mind the ever-beautiful wild roses adorning the hedge-rows of, a winding .lane. . Moss roses 1 Peeping from their little green cases, too shy to blossom out boldly, ’ but fascinating tlrose who appreciate mystery - and hidden charms that 1 steal, upon the senses gradually. . Emblems of*;Love. these half-dosed roses have ever been ; fragrant, alluring, and poets of all ages and climes never tire of singing their charm.; , ; Crimson roses!. Large, and majestic blossoms, swaying . .the ' worshipping crowd with their voliiptuous beauty. The rose 3 of passion,’that crowned the heads of gay revellers in well-known pictured scenes of Bacchanalian feasts.

Roses, that are frantically thrown and heaped aronnd some singerer stage favourite in sunny Italy, where enthusiasm for Art reaches wonderful heights. , V. . ■ Tea roses! iVitK their wodderful perfume ; what .memories, they unconsciously ‘ stirj of -sun-kissed ' walls in early Autumn; walls covered with Virginian Creeper, in all its-Autumn glory' of gold and red. And in tho: midst. of. the r. flaming •tints, a pale tea. rose-bae" its home," a perfect background;, for the , cyeamy blooms. 1 • And-, perhaps a. vision, passes before our; Cyes As we gaze on a- sm ipJj’Se'dtch "rase r :: of. an old. grey. homestseul r , surrounded ’-by heather ' clnd hills, •• where a profusion of. yellow blossoms made gav an old-world . garden, where even fragilo. flowers seemed to revel in .the soft Scottish ;mist. , And some who look on this ' assembled mass of floral beauty, and who possess a romantic nature, may think of a’ single rose, pressed carefully between the pages of a treasured volume, given, perhaps as; a pledge of-affection in some moonlit garden, where the witching;tale of Love hacLmingled with the song of the nightingale. Yes! • Adown the pages of History, roses, above all other flowers, have played their part in romantic happenings.

In tapestry, in marble, in wroughtiron work, carved in wood, or in precious metals, roses have. ■ ever been usbd for exquisite designs from the, earliest ages. - . And perhaps of all the perfumes, to those who prefer an illusive .faint scent, rather than a strong ,perfume, that distilled from rose leaves will ever charm most," and carry the, thoughts by its alluring fragrance 'to scenes of growing loveliness- . . —LAURA JEAN VICTORY.