Welcome, June, and your birth flower, the rose.
Wild roses are known to have grown in Asia, Europe (over 30 million years ago) and in the Americas (over 50 million years ago). Today's modern, domesticated varieties are mostly descendants from Asia, collected by traders in the 1700s. Throughout the world—from the Ancient to the Present—poets have endowed the rose with a powerful mythological and symbolic identity. They are employed to illustrate nature's perfection—and the term "rose" sometimes is used to describe a flawless woman. Roses are presented on very special occasions—with different colors representing different attributes: white for purity, pink for youthful innocence, yellow for friendship, and red for passion.
One of the nice things about having a house is having a garden. A small garden—nice and manageable. Against our "carriage house" wall, a quartet of "Polka" climbing rose bushes ascends the trellis. They have a sublime, multidimensional color: not quite pink, not quite peach, not quite salmon. The photo above is one of our early Spring blossoms.
Admittedly, roses take a lot of TLC. Aphids gnawing at the tender leaves and buds. Too little water and they burn. Too much water and the Black Spot appears. And be sure to clear-away those fallen leaves and petals! Funguses can survive the winter, under the snow, ready to leap-back upon the plant come Spring. And have I mentioned the continual threat of slashing thorns? For those purists who insist upon organic rose cultivation . . . good luck. We gave-up that battle within six months of planting our first rose bushes.
But nothing looks as nice scaling the wall of an Edwardian English (style) house as a bounty of voluptuous, climbing roses. Once the blooms have opened—but before the petals fall to the ground—we clip the blossoms and bring them inside for a few days of intimate admiration before they come to the end of their short, beautiful lives.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248