The Rose is June's flower according to Mary Mason Campbell's "The New England Buttr'ry Shelf Almanac", illustrated by Tasha Tudor. She tells us that according to Mrs. Burke's book, "The Coloured Language of Flowers", compiled in a much earlier era, that a white rose and red rose together signified unity and that a yellow rose meant jealousy.
Here is her simple recipe for Rosewater. . . .
"Collect a pound of scented rose petals and put them in a heatproof glass, enamel, or pottery pan on the fire. Cover petals with water and bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Strain off the water. May be used for bathing the face and arms on a warm day--very refreshing. It is best bottled and kept ice cold in the refrigerator."
My roses are coming into bloom. I bought this climbing rose in 2014. This is the first year for it to bloom. It turns out to have a pinkish hue, which I love. . . .
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| White Ramber (Felicite et Perpetue) |
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| Eden Climber (Meiviolin) |
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| Rainbow Knockout (Radcor) |
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| Carpet Rose |
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| This is my Mystery Rose that showed up in the middle of my Azalea |
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| One of the many wild roses--this one growing up into the Dogwood to continue the white flowers after the Dogwood is out of bloom |
Tasha was very fond of roses. When she died in 2008 half of her ashes were scattered, as she requested, under her favorite rose bush. The other half were scattered where one of her Corgi's had been buried.
For Tasha Tudor June was the beginning of summer fun starting with Midsummer's Eve as told in "A Time to Keep". . . .
In "Around the Year" Tasha shares her delicate borders of flowers surrounding summer scenes. . . .
"Just for fun, my family invented a religion like the Shakers we called Stillwater. I'm eldress, and we have a big celebration on Midsummer's Eve. It's really a state of mind. Stillwater connotes something very peaceful, you see, life without stress. Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the liquid song of the hermit thrush, they might enjoy life more......Life is to be enjoyed, not saddled with. Do you know that lovely quotation from Fra Giovanni? He was an old monk from away back who wrote to his patron, 'The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take joy.' That's the first commandment of the Stillwater religion. Joy is there for the taking."
I feel drawn to Tasha's porch. . . .
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| Photo credit: Richard Brown |
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Take Joy!
Cathy, your roses are lovely. Ours have been blooming better this year and I attribute it to the rains of last month. We enjoy sitting on our patio reading, eating, napping and whatever. Just a time to be and drink in all the joys of the day.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy your Tasha posts and your rosewater recipe is one I think I'll try.
Have a joy filled day, Cathy! ♥
Six years ago we screened in our front porch so Poetry could join us and have some "outdoor" space since Gabriel got to go outside. We wondered after we'd done it why we hadn't done it earlier just for ourselves! Now we can be out there anytime without being bitten by mosquitoes or being surprised by the Black Snake that likes to climb up the downspout looking for birds' nests that might be in the Morning Glory/Honeysuckle vines.
DeleteThere are 2 types of apartments where I live: main/ground floor and upper level, and I live on the ground floor where we each have a covered porch [accessed through the living room]. It's quite spacious and pleasant, and I have 2 Adirondack chairs, several hanging baskets and a couple of planters with petunias. But the drawback is that it overlooks the courtyard & parking lot adjacent to my building. The sidewalk surrounding the lot is less than 10 feet from the edge of my porch, and obviously busy with cars, other residents etc. So I'm honestly not out there very often. Unless it's very early in the morning, or late at night, I feel sort of "on display" and can just never really relax there. I should have taken an upper floor apartment because then I'd have what the floor plan calls a "balcony porch" - completely enclosed with railings and much more private. Even in the middle of the day, people sitting out on their balconies can barely be seen. That would really be nice, being out in the fresh air, surrounded by greenery and fully private. But even better would be to have a house with a garden like yours - or even half as nice as yours. We had a huge wrap-around screened porch when we lived along Lake Ontario, 3 sides of the house, when I was little, and spent a lot of time there, especially when it was raining. And when we moved "inland" to the country, my Dad enclosed the open porch of our farmhouse, during our second Summer there, I think. It could be used 3 seasons of the year, and in the Winter it was cold enough for Mom to use it as an "auxiliary refrigerator" - LOL. My parents also had a patio in the backyard - Dad poured a concrete pad for it when I was about 12 - with a big table and chairs set, umbrella etc, which we later dubbed the "19th Hole" because Mom and my youngest sister were golf fiends. We often ate out there weather permitting, if it wasn't "skeeter" or black fly weather that is. If it was, we'd be out on the front porch. Mom especially loved it there, and my sisters and I have a ton of "porch time" memories, just sitting around talking, with coffee or iced tea or Mom's favorite root beer floats, doing jigsaw puzzles together, or with Mom knitting, crocheting or working on her quilts.
ReplyDeleteJanet, the house we lived in from 1st grade through 4th grade in Mississippi had a large screened in back porch. We kids were always out there with the ceiling fan going if it was too hot to be out in the yard or raining. My fondest memories, though, are on my Mamaw and Papaw's front porch. There was a swing and several rocking chairs. We'd pass the time out there visiting while she shelled beans.
DeleteI wish you could move so you could have a better outdoor area. If I ever have to leave here when I'm to old to take care of things, I don't think I'd live long if I couldn't have a patch of ground and privacy to be outside.