Take me to the rose garden.

#02 FLOWER OF THE SEASON — summer.

My view of rosebuds and blooms from my garden bench.

“Come out here where the roses have opened.

Let soul and world meet.”

— Rumi.

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Hello everyone

I loved hearing from your corners of the world in response to last week’s post, about the synchronicities we share and the beautiful things that make you feel ‘at home’ — the feeling of both feet on the earth; relationships that provide an anchor to time and place; personal connections to local surroundings and finding home in work and creativity. It made me realise that feeling ‘at home’ is both an inward and outward experience, and that perhaps there is a magical intersection between the feeling of home and of being ‘in flow’…something I hope to explore more.

Flowers and coffee following a flower cutting workshop at Wolves Lane Flower Company.

A head full of flowers.

My local woods is somewhere I associate with the feeling of being ‘at home’. I have written before about the grounding comfort I find from being beneath the canopy of towering trees; but right now I crave the uplifting joy of being surrounded by flowers. Maybe it has something to do with the grey skies that we have seen in July, and how the rain mixed with a dash of sunshine is bringing us an abundance of luminous leaves and fervently full flowers.

When a summer afternoon lies ahead with the little ones, my thoughts meander into wildflower meadows peppered with cornflower blues, papery poppies and daisies dancing amongst golden grasses; or my mind stumbles upon a secret garden hidden behind storied old walls festooned in rambling roses reaching up to the sky.

Chintzy roses at the end of our road.

Of course, these floral visions are yet to be realised. Instead I take any opportunity I can to absorb and observe in our back garden, or we take a trip to the garden centre, perusing the front gardens in our local area as we go. I have noticed amongst the statuesque shrub roses, a profusion of unruly and unkempt wild-looking roses spilling over garden walls, alongside clusters of tightly held roses in pale tones with shaded edging, as if painted onto a chintz floral fabric from another time.

I have since found out that roses can be grouped into one of three categories: Species (wild) roses, Old Garden roses, and Modern roses. Species or wild roses have evolved and adapted through history to survive in unique environments; Old Garden roses are those cultivated by plant collectors before 1867; Modern roses are descendants of both Species and Old Garden roses and are those that were developed after 1867 (the year it is believed that ‘La France’ the first hybrid tea rose was introduced).

A rose we brought from our old flat is now planted in the garden.

Rose (her)stories.

Like the trees I turn to in the woods, I find there to be something incredibly wise, nurturing and primordial about roses. Traditionally associated with the Ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite, Roman goddess Venus and priestess Mary Magdalene, the rose symbolises the highest frequencies and multi-faceted nature of love, yet has since taken on many other meanings, from purity to power.