A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

Johnson and Perkins "Antigua" Rose

This is my favorite rose of all time. It was a gift, almost fifteen years ago. The buds are a deep pink color that top long, sturdy branches. It seems so small then, hardly capable of the show to come. As it begins to open, the petals reveal a lighter shade of pink with a hint of lightest yellow. These two colors then combine to form the most gorgeous shrimp color that lightens as it approaches the center which is the brightest sunny yellow. Just like a new day dawning, it fills my hand to overflowing. I have always thought of this rose as a long stemmed sunrise. Nothing, I thought, would be this beautiful in the desert. Its just too dry, too hot, for this sort of delicate, ethereal beauty to exist.

Was I ever wrong. Meet a rose of the desert.

Rainbow Cactus Variety - Strawberry Hedgehog

This photo has not been enhanced in any way. It is almost unbelievable as it is. Like a fireworks display, this rose begins immediately with an "in your face" intensity that defies belief, amazes you for what seems like an instant, and then is gone. It's petal shapes appear still wet and newly formed, sculpted from the purest pools of color. It is like the brilliant last hurrah of a sunset, the light infused sun's palette brimming with all the saturation it can muster.

Like a sunrise or a sunset, both beginnings and endings hold the promise of tomorrow.