More about my mother's rose. . .

My mother was a fine gardener. But I think that her love of this rose had only partially to do with its "roseness" ~~ more to do with her life. When WWII was declared, it was a foregone conclusion that my father would go: he'd gone to college because ROTC paid. He was already a Lieutenant j.g. No matter he had a year old baby. My uncles decided quickly to sign up for war industry jobs, so I had uncles in my young life, but no Daddy.

In letters between my parents from that time, both said that if they'd known how long the war -- and their separation -- would last, they couldn't have borne it. Peace became not only an ideal, but the hope for it something very loving and personal between them.

My mother, the gardener, always managed to get slips and seeds and daughters from other gardeners. She composted. She never paid for what she grew. If it cost, she didn't have it. The two exceptions were the Madonna Lilies that Daddy gave her every Mother's Day, and the Peace Rose, bought that summer, six months before he came home.

I can't tell you how many times I saw her standing, face in the rose, dreaming. It never lost its enchantment for her.


~~ below, some more information about the Peace Rose ~~


The name "Peace" is a trade name; its formal cultivar name is Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'. The adoption of the trade name "Peace" was publicly announced in the United States on 29 April 1945 by the introducers, Messrs Conard Pyle Co.. This was the very day that Berlin fell, officially considered the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note that read "We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".


On Mar 28, 2001, lantana from Era, TX (Zone 7a) wrote:"This is the 'Peace' rose, which was christened by the Pacific Rose Society exhibition in Pasadena on the day Berlin fell. We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men's thoughts for everlasting world Peace." -Provided to forty nine delegations of the United Nations with a single bloom. 1945 Introduced in 1945 to commemorate the end of World War II. A beautiful rose, it's color is pale yellow tinged with pink, reminding me of a sunrise. Wonderfully fragrant. Height: 6' Tall, 3' Wide Zones: 4-9. Hardy to 15 degrees. A fast grower.


.