Today I finished cutting back the 16 or 17 rose bushes lining our 80-foot driveway for the winter. I started trimming them the second to last Saturday in October, but because of finicky weather and my schedule only allowing me to work on them on Saturdays it has taken this long to finish the job.
As I was trimming them, I could smell the rose fragrance lingering on the leaves and in the green stems. I thought about the several 70- and 80-something couples on my street who also have roses. The older men will take care of almost anything in the yard, but their wives tend to the roses. My next door neighbor told me that the woman who planted the roses in my yard decades ago was very proud of them and bought some very expensive prize bushes. Tending to these roses, I felt I was carrying on a feminine legacy - that maybe this woman (who has passed on) might be glad that here was another woman who cares for these roses just as she had.
Cutting back roses in a significant way requires some physical positions which can be awkward when you're two months away from having a baby, but I eventually became used to bending, squatting, and standing again, which I figure can only be good preparation for labor. Thinking of these feminine acts, both of preparing for labor and nurturing gardens, brought me to think of my own female ancestors. My grandma on my dad's side has always loved her roses and brought their scent into her home. During the summer, she always has some cut to show her guests. My mom's mother had a green thumb and took great care over her magnificent flower gardens. I remember that she could take a cut and put it under a bottle in her garden and somehow grow a rose bush from the stem.
As I thought on these memories, small in their way but miraculous when you consider the beauty and life force behind earth, plants, and caretakers, this work became more like a ceremony for me. As I cut the roses back, I prepared them for late spring when they will again take off magnificently. By then I hope to show my new baby the beauty and brightness of these blossoms I have nurtured like the many women who have come before me.
And, for a classic story about cutting back roses, check out last year's post.
7 comments:
I'm in the process of trimming back my rosebushes right now, too. :)
I was thinking of you today while I was in my garden. Perhaps the reason why is because we were both doing similar tasks...
Isn't it amazing to think that the next time you see blooms on those rose bushes that you will have a baby?! I love the sense of carrying on the legacy of tending to those bushes through the generations (and of the original gardener watching you tend to them now).
This post reminds me so much of Robin McKinley's "Rose Daughter." I love it.
Jana, that is a fun coincidence! I'm glad we were doing that together, although I would prefer cutting mine in California!
Heidi, I never read _Rose_Daughter_. You always give such good fantasy recommendations!
the roses will return more beautifl then ever
I also love the analogy of roses and being cut back to return more beautiful. So many reasons to garden :)
You have such a beautiful way of expressing yourself Alisa, what a beautiful post. Just like your roses! and your beautiful belly!
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