Rosa 'Chapeau de Napoléon' - The Obverse Side
Monday, June 09, 2014
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| Rosa 'Chapeau de Napoléon' |
Every evening I ask Rosemary, “Do we have
to do anything tomorrow?” If she answers, “No,” I relax. Going to the theatre
(fun); going to a concert (fun); going to the Superstore to shop for groceries
but also to look for $3.00 movie DVD gems (fun) is all stressful. I cannot put
a finger on the why.
When I worked as a free lance photographer
I would not sleep well the night before a job. In bed I would make a mental
list (sort of like a pilots check before takeoff) of the equipment I needed,
made sure I had the necessary film and lights and those almost forgettable but
most necessary items like my Minolta flash meter and an extra flash chord in
case the first one failed on the job.
This stress that I experience on the day
before Rosemary and I are going to a play worries me. I know that if I simply
let go and stay home, we will sell our home, move to White Rock and never drive
to Vancouver to
go to the dance, or the theatre, to a new music presentation by the Turning
Point Ensemble or an Early Music Vancouver concert. In white rock we might end
up remembering how to play bridge again and discuss with people our age how we
or they “did” Machu Picchu, Palm
Springs or Venice.
In the end we would be waiting to die (WTD).
In spite of the stress of having to go
places I make it a point to go. But I must also point out the pleasures, at
this time of the year, to visit our garden, see which roses are open for the
first time and smell my many myrrh-scented roses or the wonderful fruit smell
of my Gallicas. Deadheading the spent blooms of my remontant roses is relaxing.
I reflect. I daydream. It beats crossing the street in downtown Vancouver
while checking the iPhone to see if I have any messages.
It is also pleasant to pick a few roses or
other flowers and bring them inside to scan. Scanning reveals aspects of my
roses that in some cases I was ignorant of.
That was the case today when I cut a just
opened and an older Rosa ‘Cristata’ also called Rosa
‘Chapeau de Napoléon’ and ‘Crested Moss’.
Rosa ‘Chapeau de Napoléon’ is a chance discovery
in 1826 by Jean Pierre Vibert (he fought in Napoleon’s army and was present at Waterloo).
Peter Beales writes of this rose:
Fully double, highly scented, cabbage-like,
silvery deep pink flowers enhanced by a fascinating moss formation on the calyx
[and if you rub it, you get the scent of a pine’s resin] This is shaped like a
cocked-hat, hence the name. Apart from that it is a useful shrub of medium size,
well dressed with foliage. Probably better with support.
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And yes I support most this rose and many
of my tall roses with bamboo sticks I purchase at Coolite Bamboo on 917 East Hastings.
It was only today that I chose to look at
the underside of these fragrant blooms. What a surprise!
White Rock does not beckon.
