This lovely rose grows up the wall in our back garden. Please meet Gloire de Dijon, also known less picturesquely in English as Old Glory. It’s a cross between an unknown tea rose and Souvenir de la Malmaison, an old Bourbon rose, and was introduced to the world by one Pierre Jacotot in 1853. He lived in Dijon, France, a place also famous for its mustard.
When the rose is fully opened it has dense whorls of pale peachy-pink petals that change colour as they age. Their scent is mesmerizing – notes of clove and jasmine that transport me back to Zanzibar where jasmine sprigs were nightly placed beside our plates at the hotel where we ate dinner.
And once the roses have passed their best, even dead-heading them is a delight – crushing fading petals between my hands, inhaling their last fragrance that also soaks into the skin, and can be smelled for hours.
Like Sue Judd at WordsVisual, I’m drawn to the aesthetic of decaying plant life. I think there is great beauty here – these lingering shades of erstwhile glory.
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Thursday’s Special: Three of a kind
Please visit Paula to see her own lovely study for this challenge. And definitely go and see Sue Judd’s stunning daffodil study at the link above
such a nice snapshot that captures the beauty in the fading beauty and your words are tasty too “crushing fading petals between my hands…”
Hi Yvette. Nice to see you here 🙂
Thanks Tish – just coming back after an early spring pause – feels nice to scroll posts again! Hope your month is going well!
🌹🌹🌸
And happy April to you too, Yvette.
❤️
Love your “trio”, Tish!
Thank you, Anna.
Lovely. I’m also a great one for decay!
It’s something one has more reason to contemplate 🙂
I love the old-fashioned roses and their perfumes. And Gloire de Dijon is a beauty even in death.
To date I only knew of Dijon for its mustard, and from now on when I hear the name I will picture this decaying beauties. 🙂 You have made my Thursday more beautiful, Tish. Thank you.
And now you’ve made my day too, Paula 🙂
I’m with Paula on this one! Beautiful! And thanks for the plug, Tish 😀
A pleasure to plug 🙂
Ta!
You’ve also shown beauty in decay, TIsh. Lovely image. 🙂
I love old roses, is this an old, old rose or did you plant it?
I did plant it, maybe six years ago. When I bought it, it was a rather sorry looking specimen at the local nursery, and seemed to have been in its pot for a very long time. It hasn’t exactly thrived since, which may of course be down to me. I’m going to take some cuttings late summer now that I’ve been googling and see it’s a rather easy thing to do.
So often we photograph the beautiful and leave the rest of the cycle alone. Love your old roses.
I suppose concentrating on the transience of things opens up a whole host of responses, some of which may not be too comfortable 🙂
“Even in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” – Theodore Roethke
Connie
Great quote, Connie, and so pertinent. Thank you.
I can almost smell those crushed petals from here Tish
A rose is a beautiful thing to behold, no matter its stage of life. Well shot, Tish.
Beautiful shot.
Alison