Rosa 'Princess Alexandra of Kent' 26 May 2022

The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia .

Wikipedia

If cats could name themselves would they? From Genesis we know that one of the primary obligations of Adam and Eve was to name the plants and animals in paradise. Luckily for us, until recent times, Adam and Eve had nothing to do with naming the Australian flora and fauna.

Perhaps one of my most scanned rose is the English Rose Rosa ‘Princess Alexandra of Kent’. As soon as this rose was introduced Rosemary immediately bought it. It is dark pink flower with all kinds of overtones, But it does not have a strong scent.

It was one of Rosemary’s favourites because roses and their names can beguile us. Our oldest daughter is called Alexandra. We have another English Rose, one with only five petals called Rosa ‘The Alexandra Rose’. I have not seen it yet in the garden so it may not have made the cold winter and wet spring.

Rosa 'Princess Alexandra of Kent' & Rosa 'The Alexandra Rose' 20 May 2021

My name is Jorge Alejandro. There were rules in place when I was born I Buenos Aires in 1942 that prohibited names in foreign languages. I could not be George like my father or Alexander like my Argentine godfather Alejandro Ariosa from Mendoza. If my name would be correct it would have to be George Alejandro. That sounds awfully strange.

We name our second daughter Hilary. Rosemary was a proto-feminist who told me to hem my own jeans and sew my own buttons. She thought that a person should be able to become the sex of their choice and impose it on their name. She said that Hilary was an epicene name that could be used to name a man or a woman.

The name is lovely in English but sounds terrible in Spanish. Hilary would be Hilaria.

For me to see and scan Princess Alexandra of Kent is to bring back my memory of Rosemary and how she pushed me then dragged me into liking roses. Any rose in my garden has Rosemary’s face. Even my daughter’s both namesake roses have my Rosemary’s countenance.

There is some relief in my present sadness. This is that my clogged kitchen sink might not be unclogged by morning. Will I have to call a plumber? It is a distracting worry. If Rosemary were here now somehow I would not worry in the least. A shared worry is always a lessened one.