Rosa 'Leander' 6 May 2025

Rosa 'Winchester Cathedral' 6 May 2025

Species Rose - 6 May 2025

Until sometime in 1991 I was one of those male idiots who would give my wife long-stemmed red roses (that had no scent) for her birthday or when I wanted to apologize for some ill treatment of her.

It was then in 1991 where Rosemary told me, “Alex, tonight you and I are going to a meeting of the Vancouver Rose Society at the Floral Hall of the VanDusen Botanical Garden.” Half an hour into the meeting I told her, “Rosemary why have you brought me here to sit on an uncomfortable chair to see 100 bad slides of roses?”

But it was soon after, that like my Rosemary, I became a snob and, like her, I disliked those red long-stemmed roses that idiots like me had purchased at florist shops.

All these years later I cultivate old roses and David Austin English Roses. I like especially the ones that have lots of scent.

And today my season begins. Three roses were in bloom and after I scanned them I made a little arrangement to decorate my dining room table.

What all that means is that every morning when I let out my cats after breakfast I will walk around and look for opening surprises.

Two of the roses are English Roses R. ‘Leander’ and R. ‘Winchester Cathedral’. What of the third rose?

When a friend brought me R. ‘Leander’ to replace my dead one that had been a favourite of Rosemary’s, it developed a companion that was from the root stock as R. ‘Leander’ had been grafted on it. I decided then that I would let both roses grow in the large pot. It is some sort of species rose.

And yes like my Rosemary I am still a snob.   

As for the scan that includes a scene from Winchester Cathedral I did it because I can.