in our guru’s front garden.
its intoxicating fragrance, soft colors and resplendence signify all the goodness of vintage roses.
sadly, the aggressive vigor and massive output of the neighbor’s big-gulp-sized rose bush signify all that is awry with current commercial rose cultivation - synthetic fertilizers and pesticides with a singular focus on large, showy and uniform flowers that repel beneficial insects, emit no fragrance nor soul. the bug is your friend. if the bug doesn’t want to go near your fruit, neither should you.
the consumer demand for such “perfect” plants and mass commercial productions have contributed to a depleted environment. it saddens me to learn about the closing of important resources like vintage gardens in sebastopol, ca. but it uplifts me to see the growing adoption of permaculture, along with bees and butterflies in the garden.
