Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Yellow Roses


In Victorian flower language, a yellow rose spoke of jealousy.
In the Western US, the yellow rose spoke of love familiar, humble, native to the land. The yellow rose is the prairie rose, the remote, the extraordinary in the ordinary. It bears a equal to that of other roses, but also speaks of home, of the too-often-overlooked glories of domestic happiness.
The humble yellow rose was immortalized in a popular cowboy song: "The yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me."

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Hollyhocks


The Hollyhock....'Alcea Rosea', Hollyhocks stand for fertility, for ease of creation and abundance. These plants certain do know abundance when neglected and somewhat forgotten. I can remember my grandmother growing Hollyhocks behind her garage, in a very hot gravely alley in Wapato WA. There wasn't much draw to the alley other then the daily chore of emptying the garbage, but upon a closer look, towering walls of color would overwhelm you. Hers were pink and magenta, and never held onto rust. Originally Hollyhocks were a Chinese flower grown for the savory taste of its leaves. Brought to England in the sixteenth century, these once tastey tid bits now were sought after as fast growing beauties, showing off its stunning and various blooms. Make love a daily habit, the hollyhock seems to say, and something grand and imposing will arise.