The Sick Rose
Thursday, July 31, 2014
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| Botrytis affecting Rosa 'Reine des Violettes' (purple) & Rosa 'Maiden's Blush', pink |
The Sick Rose
By William Blake (after 1789)
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
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Hand-coloured print, issued c.1826. A copy
held by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
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Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species and in my garden it attacks some of my old albas (Maiden's Blush and Könegin von Dänemark) and hybrid perpetual ( Reine des Violette). There is not much I can do as all effective fungicides have been banned. I alternate between sulphur and copper sulphate in spring to some effect but at almost the end of the season (they flower only once) the buds get yellow and fall off. I found out about Blake's poem from my friend, poet George Bowering.
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Rosa 'Könegin von Dänemark'
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