Floriography, by Gina Margolies — JuneBirth Month Flower

June’s Birthday Blossom is the beautiful rose.  So much has been said of the rose. Poets have sung its glories, painters have displayed its beauty, and Cupid has single-handedly made it the most popular flower in the world. The star of the show on Valentine’s Day and at weddings, a popular addition on cakes, and a common motif on consumer goods, it does not seem an exaggeration to say there are roses everywhere. In the Western world of today, the rose represents love. Given as a gift or populating a bridal bouquet, roses prompt us to matters of the heart....

Sometimes, you just have to be patient.    Those who love a warm, sunny spring have not had an easy task this year. Here at Birthday Blossoms HQ, we have had a rainy, chilly, very dreary spring thus far. The temperature has been hanging in the 50s, it has rained more days than not every week, and the sun has been in a stingy mood. It feels like we have been waiting for spring forever. Rather than complain about the weather, we decided to plant a balcony garden. While we don’t love non-stop rain, the garden does. And the reward for...

      In honor of June’s Birthday Blossom, I have been busy perusing books about roses. One of my new finds is the aptly titled Roses. The photographs are by Fabio Petroni and the text by Natalia Fedeli. Clearly meant to be a coffee table book, Roses is actually both visually stunning and a fascinating read.       The fruits of this crossbreeding are stunning. If you think that pictures of roses would be boring I can assure you that these are not.  The variety of style, the rainbow of hues, and the juxtaposition of each color-saturated rose...