Roses

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them:

And the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

Isaiah 35:1

This Old Testament text regarding the joy of the earth at the coming of the Messiah gives us a hint that roses must have been part of the original creation in the Garden of Eden. That is not surprising to me, for I regard the rose as the most beautiful flower on earth.  I love the stately plant, the exquisite fragrance, the opening from bud to full flower.

My neighbors next door have two very large dogs, one of which is less than friendly.  If he manages to get out the front door and I am in my yard, he charges straight at me, not a good situation with a cranky pit bull.  I’ve wanted to put up a barrier between his yard and mine – slowing him enough for me to get out of his way.  I can’t afford a fence, and don’t like the look of them in the front yard anyway, so I decided to plant a natural barrier.

As if by design, a catalog came in the mail from a huge nursery, the front page proclaiming the glory of their “fast-growing” red rose hedge that would ultimately reach a height of 5-6 feet.  Perfect!  They were on sale, and I immediately went online and ordered 20 plants.  After the sale was completed, I read the fine print in the catalog and realized I was receiving 20 rose bushes in 3 inch pots.  Hmmm…not exactly the barrier I was hoping for.  When they arrived last week, the plants themselves were only 2-3 inches tall!

I repotted the tiny rose bushes into 6 inch pots.  We have had an abundance of rain and a fair amount of sunshine, and the plants took it all in from their perch on the front porch.  When I checked on them this morning, I found bushes that had more than doubled in height and width in just one week.  Those little roses have taken every nutrient that the Creator has showered upon them, and risen in strength and beauty – a wonderful lesson for me of the transformation that comes to each of us through the infilling of God’s grace in our lives.   

O sing a song of Nazareth, of sunny days of joy,

O sing of fragrant flowers’ breath, and of the sinless Boy.

For now the flowers of Nazareth in every heart may grow,

And spreads the fame of His dear name, on all the winds that blow.