A harvest of roses

The joy of winter explodes into the house at Towerwater. An exuberance of colour and fragrance are present in rose bouquets brought in from the garden. Mid-July is rose-pruning time in the Towerwater garden. It is also the one time of the year when I allow myself to pick every available rose that is left in the garden by a balmy autumn.

As a rule, we generally refrain from picking roses for the house, except as a private treat left for visitors to enjoy in their rooms. The true joy of the rosarium, is to experience it under a bright Karoo sky. Alongside the canal waters and accompanied by bird song.

The rosarium never fails to supply bunches of mixed roses for the house at the end of the season. On a misty morning, I picked the dew-bejewelled buds and blooms. The pruning of the rose bushes leaves them stark and bare. The picking of the roses is as much a rescue mission as it is a guilty pleasure.

Filling the house with roses is like a celebration of summer and a sacrifice to the coming of spring. Spring, when bare rosebushes turn into the pride of the garden. With their display of a kaleidoscope of hues of the blooms of 120 different varieties of rosebushes. Different shades of red, yellow, pink, orange, blue, white and burgundy, flow with the water of the canal to enchant visitors, passers-by and ourselves.

I still dream of visiting the Valley of the Roses, high in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The valley is famous for the wild Damask roses (Rosa damascene) that grow there. Each year the valley produces between 3000 and 4000 tonnes of wild roses coveted by prominent French perfume houses. When the roses bloom in April and May, it is said that the whole valley and surrounding areas are heavy with their scent.

One day I might also visit the Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. Here a thousand-year-old Rosa Canina, climbs the walls of the cathedral apse. This is believed to be the oldest living rose in the world. I think that is reason enough to make a rose pilgrimage.

Until I travel to gaze upon these rose wonders, I am happy to behold the beauty of the Towerwater rosarium. Once a year, I will go out on a misty morning and pick a harvest of roses that will brighten the house with colour and fragrance. A joyous bounty for the intensive ten days that we spend in the Towerwater garden pruning and preparing for spring.