Roses: A Celebration

Beryl Hamilton is a freelance writer in Thunder Bay who specializes in
home gardening.

Wayne Winterrowd, a co-founder of the garden-design firm North Hill in
Readsboro, Vermont, is the author of three previous gardening books. For
this one, Winterrowd asked 32 eminent rosarians the following question:
“Why does everyone love a rose and what has it to offer that other
flowers lack?” The answers he received are presented in this
delightful collection of essays and illustrations. The contributors here
include such luminaries as David Austin, Graham Thomas, Jamaica Kincaid,
Mac Griswald, and Rosie Atkins. The book is illustrated with beautiful
watercolour paintings of roses by Pamela Stagg, who won the Royal
Horticultural Society Gold Medal for botanical painting in 1991.

Winterrowd’s opening essay is a wonderful introduction to the topic,
and it suggests the range and profundity of opinions on roses in the
essays that follow. Roses vary, and so do the perspectives on them
offered here. The common theme of these essays, however, is a passionate
belief in the aesthetic power of this plant and its thousands of
cultivars. Among the best essays are David Wheeler’s reflections on
the Graham Thomas rose (an all-time favourite of many gardeners),
Michele Lamontagne’s discussion of the history of the Peace rose, and
Lauren Springer’s praise of the “Yellow Rose of Texas.” Roses: A
Celebration is just that—a glorious collection of essays and
illustrations that will make the rose lover rejoice.