Great Gifts for Rose Lovers

Containers to have and hold

 

An apricot shaped demitasse cup is a charming complement to ROSA CREPESCULE.

By Carolyn Parker

"OH, HOW GORGEOUS roses would look in that" spins through my mind each time I see a great container.
Mankind has offered up many to admire. The world's eminent museums become luminous shrines as their display cases sparkle with vessels of Roman glass, Mayan gold, African bronze, Etruscan stone, Chinese jade, Viennese porcelain.
I loved vases long before I had flowers to put in them. In my early 20s, I had two Persian vessels with openings too small for even the narrowest stem. I think I liked them because they were a beautiful encasement that seemed filled from within. Not unlike ourselves.
Maybe that's why artisans down through the ages have ingeniously applied their creativity to making vessels beautiful, for both peasants and queens. Expertly wrought volumes to contain water, wine, grain, herbs, medicine, perfume, rose oil. Most all such antiquities are stunning containers for roses.
Empty or full of roses, vessels and vases make great gifts. At least 30 years ago -- again, before I was a gardener -- a friend gave me a little 3-inch-high glass vase that came in a pretty box. Today I treasure it with the sweetest memories, not to mention the countless single roses it's displayed.
If you want to go vase shopping, Tiffany and Nordstrom, as well as Ross and Target, are good retail sources. At my favorite florist, Florali in Walnut Creek, Susan Donley has the ultimate rose bowls for sale: signed Louis Comfort Tiffany, they start at $900. She also carries Henry Dean's colorful blown glass vases from only $25.
Antique shops, flea markets and bazaars in exotic foreign countries are also sources for fabulous containers. You could find a rustic brass bucket, a collection of old bottles, a zinc oil can (a 40-rupee purchase I once made in India) or any number of vases from all the decades of the last century, before and beyond.
Don't forget to look for containers at garden shops, museum gift shops, crafts sales and art galleries. And last but not least, how about your own cupboards? You might have pitchers, vases, charming demitasse or teacups that would be fun to pass on to a dear friend or daughter. The apricot demitasse cups shown above came to me from my friend Beth's mother. They were the perfect complement for Rosa Crepuscule.
If you gave someone a vase last year, that person might like another one this year to add to the collection. One can never have too many vases. Remember, even empty, vases are often a stunning decorative element in a beautiful home.