CAMELLIAS AND ROSES
Camellias:
My dad decided one day that Camellias would be
the perfect plant to place around the yard.
So, we soon became the owners of 300 camellia bushes with such names as
Alba Plena, Angel, Apollo, Candy Stripe, Finlandia variegated. yes, you heard that right. 300 bushes. Daddy never did anything half way. These were placed along the edge of the yard
next to the pasture lane (what is now Mohon Street in Alexandria). Others were placed around the house, and in
beds in the huge back yard. Daddy even
created a grassy walking path that wound around a part of the yard like a maze,
all filled with the camellias. I
remember many an afternoon placing protection around prize flowers and coddling
them for a flower show; arranging covers over prize plants when the weather
might destroy a particular bloom. Many
weekends in the fall we would be up early cutting the prize blooms and transporting
them to Camellia shows around the state. I remember
helping him graft plants to create a new variety.
One of the perks with having camellias was that I got to bring a single flower to two favorite teachers at Cherokee Elementary, Mrs. Ward-Steinman and Mrs. Maxa Salter.
In the summers when the weather was hot it became my job to water the 300 bushes twice a week. I was given a stopwatch and the hose and told to place the hose at the base of each plant and water them for five minutes each. Can you imagine how many hours that took? Do the math. I watered camellias six days a week all summer long. I would set mama’s kitchen timer and play until it went off before moving the hose...day after day. That was a boring summer.
Roses:
After daddy conquered the Camellias, he discovered roses. Again, night after night we talked roses around the supper table. Books and magazines on cultivating roses were soon growing in piles around his chair, even taller that the camellia magazines and books. It wasn't long before he made a trip out to Forest Hill. Louisiana, the nursery capital of the world, to purchase rose bushes.
Not just a few rose bushes, oh no. He planted 3000 bushes. 3000 glorious bushes of roses planted in rows, like one would plant a garden, just to the left of our pasture lane. 3000 rose bushes of every color you could imagine. 3000 roses that I feared would be my destiny, forever tethered to that hose wrapped around my neck. Thankfully, daddy installed a watering system. I loved these roses even more. My favorite escape would be to visit that aromatic hide-a-way late in the afternoons when the sun was sinking on the horizon; when chores on the farm were finished, the sensation of the rich soil cool to my bare feet. I would silently lie down in that soft dirt and just take in all the colors that were glistening above me - sometimes against a blue sky or a sunset that complemented the roses and sometimes against those cumulus clouds that beckoned me to cavort among their billowed mountains. There, I might wander to far-off places of adventure or meander on a creative rendezvous with my muse, occasionally lulled to sleep by the perfumed bouquet. This was my liminal moment before “heading to the barn”.
One of the reasons I loved these roses was
daddy’s generosity toward people. He
found a way to have a new passion and keep his current one. Daddy decided to deliver roses to people in
hospitals (Rapides and Cabrini). Now to
do this he needed a plan. First, he
contacted the hospitals and determined the number of rooms in each, then he
bought two vases for each room. Why two,
you ask. Well, one to put the flower in
and one to bring home for the next delivery.
Then he collected wine boxes with the neat little compartments to put
the vases in. Of course, he had to have
a container to hold the boxes so he devised a wooden crate that fit in the back
of the station wagon (the back of the truck would cause damage to the roses, he
thought).
The next Saturday, I was waked by
his shrill whistle at dawn. “Get up,
son,” he said, “we need to cut roses.”
After filling a bucket with water, we began to cut the rose buds. We would take them to the barn and trim each
bud, fill the vases with water and carefully place them into the car.
Then we transported them to the
hospitals. Now, here is where the story
becomes more interesting. Daddy had this
fear of people in hospitals...he did not like to visit them. He would not even step beyond the entrance
doors. I never understood this. Here was a man wanting to deliver joy and
happiness to people in need and he was afraid to do so himself. It was my job, now, to visit the rooms. So off I went visiting each room on each
floor, placing a vase of roses next to the bed, and picking up the old vase. Sometimes stopping to chat with a person or
two. I loved these days because I got to
receive all the praise for such a thoughtful gift from people I didn't
know. Daddy had no idea what joy he was
missing...or maybe it was his ploy to develop a caring attitude, in his son,
toward those in need...who knows. I just
know that I loved my Saturdays and delivering roses to people in
hospitals. I developed a love for
cheering people. Kudos, daddy. Thanks for the memory.