Do you recall Valentine's Day traditions as a kid having to bring cards to school? It was an assignment that felt awkward. As adults, we give roses; each color has a special meaning.
In this episode we also chat about an update on brother Rick's AC-Pallet Garden featured in Ep 145. Special Sedum and Succulent Gardens. I hope you enjoy the story.
Related Stories and Helpful Links:
Meaning of Roses and Valentine Traditions
Beauty and Beast of Roses
Ep 72. Beauty and Beast of Roses
Joy of Receiving Cut Flowers
Ep 46. The Gift of Cut Flowers
Link to story about Rick’s Pallet Garden & AC Screen with the updated Composite Deck Version.
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I'd love to hear about your garden and nature stories. And your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. Thanks so much for tuning in.
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Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page
Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
AskMaryStone.com
More about the Podcast and Column:
Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.
It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page
Ep 147. Meaning of Rose Colors-Valentines Traditions
Sat, Feb 10, 2024 9:52AM • 8:45
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
valentine, garden, roses, ruth, chocolate, flowers, wrote, red, bouquet, jim, mention, composite, love, plants, dilemmas, plant, trip, decking material, piano, cards, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens. It's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from Mother Nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:25
Hello there, it's Mary Stone on a very lovely screen porch. It is February, but it's a lovely day. It is sunny and cold, but not freezing. Thank you for joining me, and I want to thank those who reached back after last week's chat about Money Tree of Abundance - Happier Houseplants. I hope you have taken up the tradition of gathering rainwater and watering your house plants. They'll be much happier. Mine sure have rebounded.
Mary Stone 00:52
I heard back from Ruth and Jim after they returned from their trip. As you recall from last week, Ruth and Jim's Money Plant is what inspired the story. Ruth wrote, good morning, dear friend; so much gratitude for you taking care of our plant family and the moisture meter. It was an amazing trip on many levels. One of them was seeing all the different plants in that climate. They were in Sedona, I should mention. We were having fun identifying the different plants with an app Jim downloaded. I think it's called Picture This. And then she wanted to invite me to lunch as a thank you. So I wrote back. Welcome home, Ruth. It was a delight to visit your plant babies. So much so that it became a column and podcast topic. Your trip sounds fabulous, and I can't wait to hear about it. But there's no need to thank me. That's what friends are for. I'm singing the song as I write.
Mary Stone 01:44
I then wrote the Picture This app is certainly very helpful and a lot of fun to use. But I love to see some of the mistaken identities it comes up with, so we can't take it for granted that it's always accurate. And I told her I had not gotten to the tropical plant behind the piano. I have a beautiful grand piano because Jim does piano lessons. I couldn't figure out how to do it without making a wet mess. Likely crawling under the piano but with a watering wand too scary. So, she wrote, I usually hang the watering wand over the piano and cross my fingers. Love you too. There's nothing like dear friends. Speaking of love, we are on the cusp of Valentine's Day. So, I thought I'd pick up a story from a few years ago that starts like this.
Mary Stone 02:31
Hello, fellow listeners and readers. Do you recall Valentine's Day traditions as a kid having to bring cards to school? It was an assignment and obligation. One for each classmate. cards came in assortment packs. And while the sayings were mostly about friendliness, which isn't a bad thing, connotations of romance were sometimes there how awkward it felt. And as it turns out, Valentine's card assortments for kids haven't changed much based on a collection I came across the other day. You're a very nice Valentine, a bear holding a heart. I dig you a skunk holding a heart.
Mary Stone 03:07
As an adult, Valentine's Day melancholy remains because it's commercially driven. Though the history is a day honoring the early Saint named Valentino's is fascinating. Credit goes to English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century for shifting the association of St Valentine's Day to romantic love, a connotation that spread across countries and religions. I remember incoming flowers when working in an office eons ago, amongst other 20-something year olds, it became a competition almost. Receivers proudly displayed their bounty on their desks, as if touting that there's somebody love them more than another somebody based on their bouquet's magnitude. But you can take it out on the flowers, primarily bouquets of roses or arrangements of assorted flowers along with roses. Then there's one red rose, the iconic symbol of I love you - the same meaning as a bouquet of red. So you may save your dough, and spring for a single red rose rather than a dozen.
Mary Stone 04:07
Dark pink or peach means appreciation, light pink admiration, yellow friendship, orange desire, lavender enchantment, white; I am worthy of you. White and red together, we belong together. Then there's a tradition of giving chocolates far more enticing, not being a rose person. I find roses hard to grow, attracting many diseases and insects. I have two rose bushes from the previous owner. Each spring I marvel over their shiny new maroon growth and gets better tackling the upcoming pests. The idea quickly fades when aphids and black spot takes over. Even knockout roses introduced as carefree are often riddled with rose rosette caused by a virus spread by dust-sized mites. Never mind the Japanese beetles that chomp the heck out of them in summer. But you can take it out on the roses. And many clients and dear friends have a green thumb for them. So maybe it's just me. I love the beauty and fragrance, as you may recall from Episode 72, Beauty and Beast of Roses. I invite you to tune into it. It's a special one. I'll put a direct link in the show notes to make it easy for you to find.
Mary Stone 05:23
Legend has it the Aztecs consider chocolate an aphrodisiac. Chocolate is indeed proven to elevate moods, much like falling in love. I wonder if the types of chocolates have a meaning. Perhaps white chocolate means I am worthy of you. But dark chocolate, especially with nuts, is the worthiest of my indulgences, especially with a red wine chaser - smile face. Rather than cut flowers that quickly fade. Why not give the gift of growth and abundance, such as seeds for vegetable or flower gardens? But please don't skip the chocolates, dear. Garden Dilemmas? Ask Mary Stone.com.
Mary Stone 06:05
So I have to say I don't know about you, but Valentine's Day has never been my favorite holiday. I find the commercialism of it kind of over the top. And it's a lot of pressure, especially for the guys. Sorry guys. You don't need to indulge in the huge bouquet. Just provide a single red rose and chocolate. Yes, don't forget the chocolate.
Mary Stone 06:26
Anyway, I wanted to mention that I heard back from my brother Rick after I shared the episode that featured his special creation, the one about Special Sedums and Succulent Gardens (episode 145.) And he wrote back -- super, I listened to my big sister's advice and retooled the feature using plastic decking material.
Mary Stone 06:46
Oh my goodness, a perfect follow-up. You are such a good student. Your succulents look stunning. His design was also simplified, and Mr. Engineer had to give me the whole skinny. He used a straight piece, leaving the entire side open that was not visible from the patio anyway. He put a pipe in the ground on the bottom open end and an attachment to the wall on the other, which provided plenty of stability. Wow, I can't wait to update the story I wrote back, and I did. I posted the picture of his creation on the blog post, and I'll put a link in the show notes. It's so fun to see.
Mary Stone 07:20
I have to say, though, big sister had to do a little research because I wanted to make sure that that composite deck material does not leach plastic. And I did some due diligence, and as it turns out, it seems to be perfectly fine. Many deck composite companies, of course, say it's perfectly fine, but I dug a little deeper and found a website called Earth Easy that confirmed it is indeed safe to use composite deck material. Anyway, I want to thank you for visiting with me. I hope you enjoy the season of love, the holiday of love, which is every day, not just Valentine's Day. I really appreciate our time together, and I enjoyed it so much. I hope you have as well, and if so, please subscribe to the podcast if you haven't done so already so it magically appears in your feed and share it with others if you don't mind some work and joining us and learning and growing in the garden of life. It means so much. See you next time.
Mary Stone 08:15
You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.