While at Canada Blooms (yes, I am still on that, it is my usual Spring highlight, just a tad tainted this year) we were negotiating a really crowded aisle with a sleeping child in the giant stroller when I noticed a man holding out a rose. It seemed like he wanted to give it to me, but he seemed very reluctant. Being the cheeky monkey that I can be sometimes I said, "thank you very much, that is so sweet." He quickly pulled back and brought the flower close to my face. I figured he just wanted me to smell it, it was really fragrant, just like my English roses. But they seemed a little worse for the wear. I looked at him as if to ask what the deal was so he started to explain.
"You see, they are like embalmed roses," he said. That is the first time I had ever heard of embalmed flowers. Apparently these guys take out the sap and replace it with something akin to embalming fluid. Fancy that! I have seem human bodies being embalmed but never thought of flowers being embalmed.
They seem like a fairly large organisation and it looks like they came all the way from South Africa to exhibit their work. Iluba has a local operation too. The folks at the stall were lovely, not to mention the accent. I could have stood there listening forever about how they did what they did if it weren't for the fact we were on a short time line (we had to get through what we wanted to while the Offspring napped) and we were being jostled by everyone who passed by. Also the idea of dead flowers posing as live ones did not appeal to me.
I love fresh cut flowers for their short, vibrant and fragrant lives. They don't drag themselves around and stink up like us humans. But embalming them...it is a novel idea, but not one that appeals to me. I think I have made my point. Having said that these guys do some pretty amazing work. Check their South African website. I, in the meantime, will simply wait for my roses to show up sometime in June and enjoy their fragrant and fleeting lives.
"You see, they are like embalmed roses," he said. That is the first time I had ever heard of embalmed flowers. Apparently these guys take out the sap and replace it with something akin to embalming fluid. Fancy that! I have seem human bodies being embalmed but never thought of flowers being embalmed.
They seem like a fairly large organisation and it looks like they came all the way from South Africa to exhibit their work. Iluba has a local operation too. The folks at the stall were lovely, not to mention the accent. I could have stood there listening forever about how they did what they did if it weren't for the fact we were on a short time line (we had to get through what we wanted to while the Offspring napped) and we were being jostled by everyone who passed by. Also the idea of dead flowers posing as live ones did not appeal to me.
I love fresh cut flowers for their short, vibrant and fragrant lives. They don't drag themselves around and stink up like us humans. But embalming them...it is a novel idea, but not one that appeals to me. I think I have made my point. Having said that these guys do some pretty amazing work. Check their South African website. I, in the meantime, will simply wait for my roses to show up sometime in June and enjoy their fragrant and fleeting lives.
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| My very own David Austin's Golden Celebration |
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