(Continued from last week)
Roses have a long and colourful history.
Valentine’s Day is said to be the best season for roses. All over the world millions of roses are sold on this special Day.
Here in Guyana, the Promenade Garden was known as the ‘Rose Garden’ for many years. There were several beds of roses planted in five different colours that dominated the garden. Commonly called cashew roses, with a sweet scent and in colours of red, off-white to ivory, pink, Sulphur yellow and orange, they were a gift from Britain. These cashew roses adapted well in Guyana and can now be seen in private home gardens.
On a daily basis, hundreds of roses were cut and collected early in the mornings to make bouquets and wreaths. This was the Promenade Garden’s signature, especially on weekends; persons would flock to the garden to purchase their rose bouquets.
Sadly, when the garden was rehabilitated some years ago, all of the rose bushes were taken out and were never replanted. No one knows for sure on whose instructions it was to terminate the rose beds and other Victorian flower beds, but the Promenade Garden lost its glory when the rose plants were removed.
Today those rose beds have been replaced with shrubs that do not reflect the garden’s history.
Next week I will talk about the different varieties of roses. Until then, Happy Gardening.
