Gail's Blog

Fragrant Roses a Thing of the Past

I came out of an office building the other day and there were rows of beautiful big roses.  They looked wonderful.  I leaned

Stop and admire the roses!

Stop and admire the roses!

over to smell them but they had no fragrance.  They just looked good.  This latest genetic marvel has happened to many of our wonderful flowers.  They are bred for size and color but have lost the lovely fragrance they once owned.  I am not sure if this is only an American phenomena or a world-wide casualty of modern farming run amok.  I do know that when I receive a gift of a lovely arrangement, the roses rarely have any fragrance.  Maybe a hint, but just maybe.  The same thing happened to the red delicious apples.  They became big and colorful and void of flavor.

I can remember as a child when I would walk into a room with flower arrangements, the room was filled with lovely fragrances.  Funeral homes were almost heady from the fragrances.  We used to say that the house smells like a funeral parlor due to bouquets in vases.  It seems a silly thing to think about, the loss of a rose’s fragrance, but I think it is an indication of many losses in the name of progress and modern horticulture.  We have a common expression don’t forget to “stop and smell the roses”.  The meaning, of course, is to slow down, smell the flowers, pay attention to the simple things in your life, pay attention to what’s important.  Now, how do I say, stop and admire the roses.  “They don’t have fragrance any more but you can admire them”.

My point for all of this is our lives are fast, distracted and stressed out.  We worry here, we worry there.  We take supplements to help save our bodies from poor diets and poor life styles.  We live in the unknown future and carry the past filled with consequences.  We need flowers and bees and trees and simplicity.  We long for the real and the authentic but we chase after the unnatural and artificial.  Seldom do we think what really makes me happy or what do I really need to feel more calm and at peace.  I started with roses.


2 responses to “Fragrant Roses a Thing of the Past”

  1. Chris & Lors says:

    great article!!!!
    great reminder to stop and make time to notice nature’s gifts and the real things.

  2. We definitely need to stop periodically, take a deep breath and reflect on what’s truly important in our lives.

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