Climbing rose 'Handel'

A Rose for Valentine’s Day

Posted on by Ann Mackay

Actually, this really isn’t a Valentine rose – it would need to be red. But I don’t have any red roses in the garden, so this is the best I can offer. (It’s the climbing rose ‘Handel’.)

According to Google and several florists’ websites, a pale pink rose means, among other things, ‘happiness’ or ‘joy’. So maybe it’s a bit more suitable as an offering to my blog readers than a red one would be!

I don’t know why it’s the red rose that means love. Perhaps it’s because it’s the colour of blood, so associated with the heart and passion. At any rate, it does go back a long way, even to the myths of the ancient Greeks. Aphrodite, their goddess of love, was scratched by a thorn on a white rose bush as she was rushing to be with her dying lover, Adonis. Her blood turned the rose red and ever afterwards, red roses were the symbol of love.

It feels like it will be a long time before there are any roses at all here. It’s snowy outside at the moment, and I am dreaming of being able to visit gardens where the scent of roses is carried on warm summer air. And I’ll be very happy to see them, whatever colour they may be!

Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

23 thoughts on “A Rose for Valentine’s Day”

  1. This morning we were admiring roses in Gore Gardens and I’ve photographed a few for the blog so you’ll at least get those to look at when I put them up. Your rose is really soft and pretty and I love the wavy petal edges!

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    1. I’ll look forward to seeing your roses, Liz. 🙂 I like this rose especially for those edges. They can vary between being quite soft and delicate to being much brighter and bolder. I’m not great at growing roses though!

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    1. That does seem likely – I think that red does have associations with the heart too. I had a lovely red rose in our previous garden, but none here – yet!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Valentine’s day is the traditional time to prune roses here on the Texas coast. I’m not sure how many people will be out in the ice and snow to prune this year — we’re in line for truly historic cold. It’s much more pleasant to look at this beauty. It reminds me of our native roses, with that open countenance and those wavy edges.

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    1. I have a list of pruning that needs to be done soon, but I’ll wait ’til the snow is gone. Hope you cope with the cold weather OK and don’t have any problems with it.

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  5. Happy Valentines Day Ann! Love the beautiful pink rose – would love to have one growing here. Used to grow roses in Virginia where it was much cooler in the winter. Enjoy your rose – Spring will be here soon!

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    1. Thanks Syd – I hope you had a happy Valentine’s Day too! It suddenly feels like spring isn’t far away because it rained last night and washed all the snow away. And today the sun is shining! 🙂

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      2. Colin and I are much the same about holidays of any kind, including Christmas and New Year. We don’t go in for a fuss, but just relax and enjoy being together. 🙂

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  7. The prettiest roses always look so fragile like a breath of air would send the petals scattering. I live very near the border of the red rose and the white rose where the emblems are mounted on stone.

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