Whenever I go to church, I always pass by this rose bush on the side of the road just outside the place where I am staying. Covered in vines and weeds, it is as if someone planted it there to grow on its own.
But despite the competition and bullying of surrounding weeds, it just manages to stretch out its arms, I mean branches, in between that spider web of vines (really, those weeds prove to be merciless) to show off those beautiful blooms. Little pink flowers, almost like carnation, nothing fancy and big like the roses they have on books. I guess we cannot grow big roses here with our tropical weather. (I’m not sure, but if you know otherwise, please please let me know. Having a rose garden is one of my childhood dreams.)
And so Operation: Saving Roses started.
I wanted to get a lone stem and see if I can grow one on a flower pot and place it inside my room. Well, as green-thumb-challenged as I am, I do learn from grade school that roses are one of the plants that you can grow through cutting. Yey!
So I planned and plotted on getting that cutting myself. One, I can look for the owner and ask for a rose cutting. OR. When no one’s around and looking. And it has to be fast. Sneaky.
Only, it did not happen. It was very hard to have no person in sight at that area, it seems that the people planned and plotted too. Sad.
It is not very easy to get that stem ha? And I am yet to learn speaking the local dialect. How do you say “pwede po ba makahingi ng rose?” in waray-waray?
And I’d say “that’s what friends are for.” Hehe.
Of course, I asked my good friend, who to my luck happens to be a forester, to help me. He talked to the guy working there with some bolo and bamboo. (I could not dare approach a man swaying his bolo, though he turned out to be a very friendly guy) He even let my friend borrow the bolo and then forester friend picked the stems ideal for planting. Whoa!
Here look at them:
I took this photo early this morning. We placed the stems on a vase with water to keep them hydrated overnight.
I took this photo early this morning. We placed the stems on a vase with water to keep them hydrated overnight.
And we will be planting them today. I am very excited. I hope they grow in good health. (and please don’t die.)
Or maybe I should change the title of this post until such time as I can definitely say that they were saved?
Ahh…(cross-fingers)
the pinay bargainista