Rosa 'Sombreul' 29 June 2023

Cultivo una rosa blanca – José Martí

Cultivo una rosa blanca,

En julio como en enero,

Para el amigo sincero

Que me da su mano franca.

Y para el cruel que me arranca

El corazon con que vivo,

Cardo ni oruga cultivo

Cultivo una rosa blanca.

I have a white rose to tend

In July as in January;

I give it to the true friend

Who offers his frank hand to me.

And to the cruel one whose blows

Break the heart by which I live,

Thistle nor thorn do I give:

For him, too, I have a white rose.

I am writing this blog 29 June 2023 and the May/June first blooms rose season is over. Some of my roses will come back later and in the fall. I spotted these two lone white roses, Rosa ‘Sombreul’. I knew I had to scan them. But what could I possibly connect them with? I hit paydirt with Cuban patriot José Martí’s poem Cultivo una rosa blanca. The lovely poem is about love and forgivness.

I am sure that had Rosemary been alive and on our bed I would have said to her, “Rosemary look what I found. Let me read this to you.”