Every rose needs a name

Did you know that the practice of naming roses after people goes back two centuries or more? In those days you needed to be a British Queen, a French duchess or a Cardinal, for such an honour to be bestowed.
Roses are still named after celebrities and people who have made a difference to society, but by far the most roses are named to celebrate a person greatly loved by their family – grandmother, mother, husband or wife or a beloved daughter or son.
Roses are among a fairly small circle of plants where each plant (cultivar) has a name, and with it comes a story.
Here are some of the roses that tell the stories of extraordinary 'ordinary' people who touched the lives of the people around them.
'Mushe Kirsh' is one of many grandmothers who have had roses named for them. The sweetly scented 'Mushe Kirsh' rose was chosen by the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to celebrate Mushe's 80th birthday. They selected it for its ageless beauty and vibrancy as a reflection of their grandmother. The full petalled old fashioned blooms are produced in abundance on a stately, shrub-like rose that grows up to 2m and is very disease resistant.
Natalie Douglas is a breast cancer survivor diagnosed at the age of 27, who subsequently created the Natalie Diana Douglas Kotze Cancer Foundation to provide awareness, to inspire hope and positively encourage young people from all walks of life diagnosed with cancer. The 'Natalie Douglas' rose is a powerful grower, producing large, fragrant blooms on long, strong stems. A sterling garden rose.
As a great lover of roses Alan Tew was an active chairperson of the Gold Reef rose society before moving to Knysna where he continued to make rose growing popular in that area. The rose was given to him as a surprise by his family. The 'Alan Tew' rose has glossy, healthy leaves and the blooms are shapely and fragrant.
Candice Morgan has been one of the most active ambassadors for the deaf community and has set her sights on representing the deaf community in Parliament. She is Executive Producer, Director and Presenter of DTV and the channel has become a role model, assisting other countries and media channels including the BBC's Channel 4. The 'Candice' rose has a flower shape and perfume typical of the romantic yesteryear roses. The bush is graceful and reaches between hip and chest height.
'Simply Samantha' rose was named in memory of the untimely death of a beloved daughter and sister. This sweetly scented rose produces large, beautifully shaped blooms, that open just enough to allow bees to visit the deeply seated stamens. This tall bush rose is extremely vigorous with long flowering stems. It makes a statement wherever it is planted.
Sixteen year old year old Cianliné van der Westhuizen suffered a traumatic brain injury as an infant, leaving her paralysed on the left side of her face and with a lob-sided smile. Despite a long road to recovery and bullying at school for her looks, she radiates strength and dreams of becoming a polytrauma surgeon. The Cianliné rose is a sturdy hybrid tea rose that grows vigorously and is resilient to climatic changes.
How roses are named
Every year new roses become available and it's been the practice of rose grower Ludwig Taschner to name a rose after someone he feels needs to be honoured. But as time has gone by more and more people have come to him wanting to name a rose after somebody who means lot to them personally.
In the huge trial grounds at Ludwig's Rose Farm there are 100's of roses on trial and once a rose has met the many criteria after three years of trials, it needs a name. That's when people are able to walk through the 'approved' roses and see which rose speaks to them. There is a price tag attached and the name needs to be acceptable.
That's how the latest rose, 'Bettina's Café' was selected. Bettina O' Grady wanted a rose to celebrate the 21st anniversary of 'living her dream' which was to give up her career in travel to open a coffee shop. With a pink rose in mind she visited the rose farm until she came to a tall rose with full petalled burgundy red blooms. Ludwig remembers that she pulled down one of the strongly fragrant blooms and smelt it, and instantly that became her rose.
For Bettina her rose is a symbol that 'it is never too late to live your dreams and there is no expiry date on pursuing those dreams with passion, love and perseverance.'
German rose breeder Thomas Proll offers the final word:' If you want a rose to be remembered it has to tell a story.' Details: www.ludwigsroses.co.za
Article and images supplied by Alice Coetzee.
For more on gardening, visit Get It Magazine.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Daily Maverick

6 hours ago

• Daily Maverick

AirFryday: Gingered croissant and butter pudding

The traditional British bread and butter pudding is switched up by using croissants and candied ginger in this air fryer recipe. Foil containers turn out to be a very handy item for an air fryer. Expect a rush on them, and foil loaf tins and the like becoming ubiquitous while also potentially selling out once everyone who owns an air fryer gets wind of this. A regular foil loaf tin, 13 cm x 25 cm, was perfect for the quantities of this pudding. You can of course also make it in a conventional oven, in which it would cook for longer. Ingredients 100 g dried ginger slices (they come in 100 g packets) ⅓ cup hanepoot or other fortified wine 250 ml full cream milk 250 ml cream 1 tsp vanilla essence or extract 3 large eggs ½ cup golden brown sugar 4 mini croissants 4 Tbsp golden brown sugar Butter for spreading on the croissants and dotting Method Chop the candied ginger (available at dried fruit outlets such as Wellington or Montagu) and put it in a small saucepan with the hanepoot or other fortified wine. Bring it to a slow simmer and reduce until you have a sticky but slightly runny sauce. Heat the milk and cream together until just less than boiling point, then turn off the heat. Beat the eggs and sugar together. Add the dairy mixture to this a little at a time while stirring. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir on a low heat until the custard thickens. Stir in the vanilla essence or extract. Grease a foil loaf tin or metal one with butter. Cut the croissants in half, butter them generously and place them alongside one another in the greased tin. Spoon half of the candied ginger and their wine essence over, then put them back together and place them alongside one another in the foil tin. Pour the remainder of the ginger sauce over. Pour the custard over evenly. Dot the top with butter here and there. Sprinkle golden brown sugar over the top. Preheat the air fryer to 160℃ for 5 minutes. Put the tin in the basket and set it to cook at 160℃ for 15 minutes. Check, and if not quite cooked, put it in again for another 5 minutes. It's self-saucing so doesn't really need anything else, but you could serve it with vanilla ice cream if you like. DM

eNCA

4 days ago

• eNCA

Relatives wait for remains after Air India crash

AHMEDABAD - Indian health officials have begun handing relatives the bodies of their loved ones after one of the world's worst plane crashes in decades, but most families were still waiting on Monday for the results of DNA testing. Mourners have held funerals for some of the 279 people killed when the Air India jet crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, but others are facing an anguished wait. "They said it would take 48 hours. But it's been four days and we haven't received any response," said Rinal Christian, 23, whose elder brother was a passenger on the jetliner. There was one survivor out of 242 passengers and crew on board the London-bound plane when it slammed into a residential area of Ahmedabad, killing at least 38 people on the ground as well. "My brother was the sole breadwinner of the family," Christian said on Sunday. "So what happens next?" Among the latest victims identified was Vijay Rupani, a senior member of India's ruling party and former chief minister of Gujarat state. His flag-draped coffin was carried in Ahmedabad by soldiers, along with a portrait of the politician draped in a garland of flowers. Crowds gathered in a funeral procession for passenger Kinal Mistry in Anand district, a two-hour journey from Ahmedabad. The 24-year-old had postponed her flight, leaving her father Suresh Mistry agonising that "she would have been alive" if she had stuck to her original plan. Air India said there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian on board the flight, as well as 12 crew members. As of Monday afternoon, 114 crash victims have been identified, Gujarat's Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi wrote on social media platform X. Rajnish Patel, a doctor at Ahmedabad's civil hospital, said: "This is a meticulous and slow process, so it has to be done meticulously only." One victim's relative who did not want to be identified told AFP they had been instructed not to open the coffin when they receive it. Witnesses reported seeing badly burnt bodies and scattered remains. - 'We need to know' - Nilesh Vaghela, a casket maker, was asleep when the crash happened in the early afternoon. "Then around 5:00 pm, I got a call from Air India saying they need coffins," he told AFP after delivering dozens of caskets. "My work is very sad. All these innocent people died, small children," he said. "Someone has to do it." AFP | Sam PANTHAKY The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner erupted into a fireball when it went down moments after takeoff, smashing into buildings used by medical staff. The task of clearing debris from the scorched crash site went on in Ahmedabad, where an AFP photographer saw dozens of workers in yellow hard hats. Indian authorities have yet to identify the cause of the disaster and have ordered inspections of Air India's Dreamliners. The airline said one of its Dreamliners returned to Hong Kong airport on Monday "shortly after take off due to a technical issue" and was undergoing checks. Indian authorities announced on Sunday that the second black box of the Ahmedabad plane, the cockpit voice recorder, had been recovered. This could offer investigators more clues about what went wrong. AFP | Dibyangshu SARKAR Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said on Saturday he hoped decoding the first black box, the flight data recorder, would "give an in-depth insight" into the circumstances of the crash. Imtiyaz Ali, who was still waiting for a DNA match to find his brother, is also seeking answers. "Next step is to find out the reason for this accident. We need to know," he told AFP.

The Citizen

5 days ago

• The Citizen

Celebrate Father's Day with this classic French macaron recipe

Today is Father's Day, so why not go beyond the usual tie or card? Show your dad some love with a batch of freshly baked macarons. These delicate, colourful little treats are a sweet way to celebrate a great man. Whether he has a sweet tooth or just loves trying something new, making macarons together can be a fun, memorable experience. Macarons are the French pastry everyone loves to obsess over. Crisp shells with a delicate chew, sandwiched around a luscious filling. But don't let their elegant appearance intimidate you. Once you understand the basics, you'll see they're all about simple ingredients and a few key techniques. Good to know: Macarons are not the same as macaroons. Macaron are delicate meringue cookies, while macaroons are chewy, coconut-based, soft cookies. Ingredients 120g almond flour 200g icing sugar 3 large egg whites (room temperature) 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 50g granulated sugar Food colouring (optional) 150g buttercream or ganache for filling Method Sift the almond flour and icing sugar together. Set aside. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until frothy. Gradually add granulated sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the almond mixture into the meringue using a spatula. Be careful not to overmix. Transfer the batter to a piping bag. Pipe small circles onto a parchment-lined baking tray. Allow the piped macarons to rest for 30-60 minutes until a skin forms on the surface. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the tray halfway. Once cooled, gently remove shells from parchment. Pair them by size and fill with buttercream or ganache. Creative filling ideas While classic macarons are filled with vanilla buttercream or chocolate ganache, feel free to experiment: Raspberry jam and white chocolate ganache: Combine 100g white chocolate with 50ml warm cream. Stir until smooth. Spread a small spoonful of raspberry jam on one macaron shell, then top with the white chocolate ganache. Lemon curd with fresh zest: Whisk together 2 egg yolks, 50g sugar, 40ml lemon juice, and a pinch of zest in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened. Let it cool before filling macarons. Salted caramel buttercream: In a saucepan, melt 100g sugar until golden. Add 50ml cream and a pinch of sea salt. Stir until smooth. Let it cool, then fold into 100g whipped butter for a creamy, salted caramel filling. Troubleshooting: common macaron problems Hollow Shells: Your meringue may not have been whipped enough. Your meringue may not have been whipped enough. No Feet: The batter may have been overmixed, or resting time was too short. The batter may have been overmixed, or resting time was too short. Cracked Shells: Temperature may be too high, or the shells weren't rested enough.