The genuine scent

What is your first thought when you see a rose?

Admiration or indifference? Good smell? Pain if you prick yourself on its thorns?

Have you ever smelled a rose whose fragrance creates pleasure in your mind? Those neurons of the sense of smell can cause reactions in our brain, so memories and emotions come back. That is in the case you find a real rose, with a real smell. It happened many times that I get a rose after a performance or in some another occasion bought in a flower shop but there was no natural fragrance. They were just beautiful to see but nothing else.

The roses from my mom's garden talk a different story. They have a genuine scent and smell like childhood.

They also remind me about a book that the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry has written. Do you remember that the Little Prince had his unique Rose?

That flower was preparing to come out from its green room for days. As the book says, she dressed slowly, choosing her petals and didn't want to come out crumpled. She wanted to show herself in the full splendour of her beauty and took her time.

That is true for the roses, as we can see all these layers, petals and their pretty shape. It's not surprising that the Little Prince's rose was not very modest, just look at the complexity of these flowers. But moreover, she was unique in the eyes of the Little Prince.

There are also other flowers in the garden of my mother. For instance, so many pots of geranium decorate the space around the house. They have a lot simpler structure than the roses and one layer of petals. No thorns. There is a characteristic smell Geraniums have but it can't be compared with the one that the real roses can give to our sense of smell.

To be honest, they are very nice too, and especially those that have colourful petals. Pink (or bright red?) and white combination. They are blooming for a long time, usually from spring until autumn when the frosts come. Then my mother takes them inside. She has so many pots that it is becoming challenging to store all of them in the hallway.

The most I like is this one as the colours make a cool combination. Geranium was also one of the favourites of my grandma, so I guess there will be always at least one pot of these in my parent's home.

Nerium oleander also found its home around the house. There are four shrubs that grow, in separate pots. That is also challenging to store them during the winter but as the flowers of Nerium oleander are so cute (though is it a poisonous plant) she likes to keep them. They remind me about the Mediterranan area.

The following flowers are also pretty, however they are so simple. They are not toxic (as far as I know), they don't have thorns, they are not pretentious and grow almost as weeds. Clematis Jackmanii climbs on the wooden grid by the terrace.

On the other side of th same grid there is a pot with Petunia. They don't crave for much attention , no need for a glass bell. Although the wind and the few storms that happened lately did not benefit this plant.

The roses... they are still blooming and even after the rain I can smell their genuine scent.