Back in 1986 you could go into Malcolm Parry’s Vancouver Magazine office (his door was always open). Sometime in April I went in and said, “Mac I have this idea for the forthcoming Mother’s Day in which I would photograph fathers and mothers and their children and because I have chosen writers they have either written about their children or also their children have written about them.” Mac (as we knew him) said, “Do it.” And it became a cover called Sequels.

I was very upset today May 15, Father’s Day because I could not find the blog I may have written about it. I had in fact not written one. But I found the piece in one of my old “tear sheet portfolios”

And here it is. I am extremely proud of it.

There is a sad note that I must add. I went to a church celebration of life with writer Ben Metcalf. He told me, "Alex, it is really sad for a father to have to go to his son's funeral." His son had died of a drug overdose suicide. 

Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis' 15 June 2025

 Fraser Valley Rose Farm

Today was the big rose show of the Vancouver Rose Society at the Floral Hall of VanDusen Botanical Garden. Since I am a member I went to help.

Jason Croutch of Fraser Valley Rose Farm (they also have lovely perennials) brought some roses and perennials to sel. I decided to help. One of the potted roses was Rosa x odorata ‘Mutabilis’. Because I happened to have 40 bucks in my wallet I bought it on the spot. Why?”

For those who might not know the rose terms the word remontant means that a rose will bloom and re-bloom during a season. Many of the old garden roses (OGRs) bloom only once. Roses that are remontant have Chinese genes in them. Crusaders, etc brought roses from China into Europe. They were then hybridized and that is how we have modern roses that bloom all summer.

Rosa Mutabilis is sometimes called Rosa chinensis. It has five petals so its blooms are called single. But there is lovely wrinkle to this rose which is also sometimes called a butterfly rose bush. From far away that is what the little blooms look like. And these blooms as they are usually not in simulataneous openings, the bush looks sort of nicely messy and impossible to photograph well.

Rosa Mutabilis 

We (Rosemary and I) had it in our Kerrisdale garden. It was very large and I remember exactly where it was in our garden. This rose is not entirely hardy and before we moved to Kitsilano it died.

Roses from the past or a recent past are difficult to find in our Vancouver nurseries. If you happen to have a dead English Rose from the 80s or 90s it will be all but impossible to find a replacement.

So enter her Jason Croutch. He brings back these good old roses. Because I was helping him I noticed that Mutabilis pot.

Had Rosemary been with me she would have immediately alerted me to buy before anyone else did. There was that only one.

And like I keep writing here these roses all have my Rosemary’s face on them. I will lovingly plant it tomorrow and I will quote in my head St. Luke (King James version),”Do this in remembrance of me.”

And so I will.