Thursday, June 03, 2010

A rose is a rose is a rose

So said Gertrude Stein. What did she mean? I'll leave that for the philos phillos phylos people who think about such things. As for me, I'll just take pictures of them and let you decide. There is no lack of roses to photograph around our hamlet. Everyone seems to have some in their garden, including us.

Pink roses blooming now in our back garden.

Not to mention the roses that grow in the vineyard, planted at the ends of certain rows of vines. Supposedly they serve a similar function to the "canary in the coal mine." That is, if there are pests or diseases that might harm the vines, they attack the roses first, alerting the grower to the problem.

A wild rose in the woods next to the vineyard.

There are also roses growing wild at the edges of the woods. I don't know whether these are "escaped" plants that have reverted to a wild state, or if they're actually naturally wild roses. But they're pretty and are in bloom right now.

9 comments:

  1. Walt,
    I didn't know that was the reason that roses adorned the end of the rows of vineyards. I just thought it looked pretty.
    It is certainly a tradition for the vineyards here in OZ.
    Leon

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  2. Hi Walt - I found your blog through Spo and I'm really enjoying reading about your life in France. Great photos too. Scott

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  3. The wild ones have such powerful memories for me as a child -- growing up, summertime, etc. You don't see many of them any longer.

    Portland's Rose Festival is on right now...but the rain was so severe, it closed down yesterday -- there are two giant parades over the next two weeks:

    http://www.rosefestival.org/

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  4. Mmmm, I can smell them from here, I swear!

    Biltmore had a large, beautiful rose garden and the scent was so strong it made us feel like we were floating in it. Is there such a thing as a rose high?

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  5. Very beautiful photos. The wild rose looks like it could be Rosa Rugosa, or Japanese rose, which is beautiful, but spreads like crazy and can "escape" gardens.

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  6. vtt, thanks!

    leon, I don't know whether they still serve that original purpose or whether it's just a tradition now.

    scott, thanks for stopping by!

    alewis, I visited the rose garden in Portland once, many years ago. Very nice!

    cubby, there may be!

    diogenes, thanks, I'll look that up and see if it's the same.

    starman, merci :)

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  7. The rose is a genuinely wild, native species. It's either a Sweet-briar Rosa rubiginosa (Eglantier odorante in French) or a Dog Rose R. canina (Eglantier commun in French). I can't tell from the photo - they are very similar species. Sweet-briars prefer calcareous soil and are scented. Dog Roses are very common and not scented.

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  8. susan, thanks. I'll try to detect a scent the next time I'm out there.

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