Christmas Roses - Blooming Late Against the Odds!

Rosebud against the
 frosted rooftiles

Back in August, an old friend came to visit and I asked him if he would mind holding my tall steps steady while I dead-headed some climbing roses that had grown way out of my reach.

He kindly agreed but somehow I found myself holding the steps while he attacked my roses far above my head. When I stood back and saw how ruthlessly he had savaged them, I feared he'd overdone it – until just before Christmas, when I noticed, in the fading afternoon light, some bright little spots of pink glowing high up against the dark of my garage roof! 

In spite of the horrendous weather, the roses were not only well and truly alive - they were in bud!

So a couple of weeks later, when my very tall son came down for Christmas, I asked him to reach up and pick the rosebuds for me. And here they are, amongst the cones and candles, decorating our Christmas Dinner Table –

I usually prefer flowers when they are in season, just as I think fresh vegetables taste all the better for being genuinely 'fresh'! 

But I also see plants, particularly flowering ones, as a metaphor for our purpose in life - to grow, to bud, to blossom and finally to bear fruit, of one sort or another, which will, we hope, contain within itself the seeds of what we leave of ourselves for later generations!

With that in mind, I have to admire these beautiful rosebuds that bloomed so late in the year, in spite of severe winter storms; storms that cut the power lines and flooded homes, alternating with frosts that left the nearby roof tiles sparkling white with frost!

This Chinese proverb sums it up perfectly, I think:

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all."

.......

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