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In May, I attended a lecture on old roses given by the Heritage Rose Group of the Bay Area. I’ve been a member for years, but never had time to go to meetings. When I arrived at the meeting, the organizers told me they were getting ready for the Celebration of the Old Roses Festival in Albany. I immediately told them I was too busy to volunteer for anything.
Ha! By the end of the lecture, I had volunteered for everything and then some. It was pure joy! I made new friends and volunteered to make a decorative arch of old roses for the festival. I also learned new techniques for propagating vintage roses, and now Gary and I are transforming our garden with these gorgeous plants.
Through my springtime volunteer work, I also learned about Rose Edward, the richest, most gorgeously deep rose you’ll find anywhere. It’s incredibly rare and almost impossible to find anymore. I bought Rose Edward absolute 25 years ago and still use it in my perfumes, including Bed of Roses. I now understand why it is grown in India!
Rose Edward hails from the Isle of Bourbon in the Indian Ocean, where rose sleuths tracked it to the garden of M. Edouard Perichon and followed it from there to Europe. I found this out in a book that I have had for many years called "History of the Rose”, by Roy E. Shepherd, a faithful reproduction of the 1954 classic. It’s amazing to track the journey of roses and how they are cloned, propagated, and treasured. My volunteer work has opened my eyes to its history – I am making time to smell the roses in a new way!
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