The Best Rosy Scent in the Depths of Winter

By Guest Writer Terri Clark

First off, you should know from the get-go that I am a one-scent woman. Here’s how it happened. In my salad days, I was strolling down Robson Street in Vancouver and discovered a marvelous shop called Gallipots, now long gone. At the entrance to this diminutive treasure was an enticing display of florally scented perfumes and colognes, all made by an east coast American company – The Perfumers’ Workshop. Never before or since have I inhaled such true-to-flower scents in any perfume.

Not cloying but almost wistful, there were about ten different scents that could be purchased. I recall there were Magnolia, Gardenia, Lilac and, my favourite, Tea Rose. From the first moment I smelled this old rose aroma I was hooked and so were all those who would come in contact with me over the next three decades.


Wherever I go I can almost count on at least one person - in a crowd, at dinner, in the butcher shop, at a park – to be heard to say, “What is that wonderful scent, it smells like real roses?” Of course the problem becomes, do I enlighten them about the particular perfume I use and become less unique, or let them wander off always wondering what it was that turned a normal atmosphere into a virtual Mottisfont Abbey on a mid-June day.

I am now about to reveal my source after all these years so others, fortunate enough to cadge a bottle, can experience this fresh scent every day like me. The Perfumers’ Workshop was only able to market their amazing line of flower products for a short time and Tea Rose was ever after always difficult to find. In the early years Bloomingdales in New York could always be counted on, until recently. Now it can be discovered in discount stores like Dollars & Scents in the United States, and of course, online.

The great news is that Tea Rose by the Perfumers’ Workshop is relatively inexpensive with a 4 ounce bottle costing only about $25.

Good luck on your journey to finding what I think is the best and most authentic rose scent anywhere!

Hilary Miles - Roses from the Heart

By Guest Writer Terri Clark
(Hilary Miles will be a part of the Floral Design Exhibit at the World Rose Festival)

As is often the case in life, sometimes we don’t end up choosing a career as much as following what seems to be our destiny. Such is the case with Hilary Miles, one of Vancouver’s and Canada’s most sought after florists. From the tender age of just eight years, when she made her first arrangement in a favourite uncle’s Seattle floral shop, Hilary always knew that one day she would be surrounded by flowers in her very own store.

Sitting in her diminutive and subterranean Kitsilano shop which she opened in 1992, Hilary is giving me a lesson in the many attributes and varieties of roses, from long and short to local and imported. She is stylishly dressed in a fuchsia pink jacket with shimmering matching lipstick suggesting a rosy mood as I asked her why roses are so associated with Valentine’s Day.

“I just love roses. A few years back there was a trend away from roses to mixed bouquets for February 14th but they have returned in a big way. I think people are harkening back to the ‘50s and early ‘60s and all those traditions of trying to create a sense of safety and hominess. By far the biggest seller on Valentine’s Day will be a dozen or more long-stemmed red roses. We are so fortunate now to be able to get a wide variety of these flowers locally and from places like South America where they have become one of the top exports for many countries.”

For the florist, Valentine’s Day is like the Christmas season when businesses make a substantial portion of their annual income. Everyone tends to keep their fingers crossed for passable weather- no snow or freezing temperatures please! But Hilary Miles has also cornered a very lucrative market in supplying flowers for set decorators in the movie, commercial, and TV industries. This, along with weddings, weekly arrangements for businesses and a very loyal clientele, keep her optimistic in these volatile economic times.

She also cautioned that people get exactly what they pay for. Those $12 a dozen bouquets of red roses being sold curbside have probably been in a cooler for two to three weeks. Their little crimson necks will flop over the minute they hit a room of warm air. The week before Valentine’s Day, prices at the flower auction will skyrocket for quality roses so please expect to pay about $120 for a dozen top-of-the-line roses but they will repay the recipient with over a week of pleasure.

I asked Hilary what her dream rose bouquet would consist of and without hesitating she said, “I am not a fan of pastels at all. Give me a fiery mix of corals, citrus, watermelon and yellows. I adore those colours.” If you visit her web site at hilarymiles.com you’ll see exactly what she means.

Gifted Roses - Rose Garden Legacy Project

By Guest Writer Patrick White

Under the auspices of Thomas Proll, Chief Hybridiser for Kordes of Germany, 450 bare-rooted roses were sent from Gary Pellett of NewFlora, the chief distributor of this international firm in Medford, Oregon to Victoria for municipal plantings throughout the city. The purpose was to “beef up” existing rose plantings for the international visitors expected for the World Rose Convention and Festival, as part of the Rose Garden Legacy Project.

These roses are very much of the 21st century, with high disease resistance typical of the current Carefree Spirit hybridizing programme maintained by Kordes. This will be of paramount interest to rosarians attending the WFRS Convention. And Thomas will be participating in the Hybridiser’s session in Vancouver!

There was a gift of roses from France, from the house of Meilland. Alain and Nadine Meilland have donated 400 rose bushes -of Carefree Spirit, a 2009 AARS winner- to be planted between Victoria, and Vancouver parks.

One of My Favourite Roses …also known as Ramblin’ Rose

by Guest Writer Elaine Senft

My passion is growing roses, mostly the old garden varieties. The climate of the southwestern corner of British Columbia is very similar to the climate of Britain other than their soil conditions are of a clay base and ours, an acidic base.

One of my favourite roses, Madame Alfred Carriere, does her thing anywhere! She was born in the mid 1800s and she is a magnificent climber of spectacular beauty and qualities. She is pure innocence, sporting the creamiest white, fluffy, delicately petalled, full flowering, fragrant blossoms you could ever imagine! I'm not prejudiced or anything...having five of her and all! Her status in the rose world is fantastic and she is classified as a ‘Noisette’ rose.

What are Noisettes? Well, they are a family of roses that have been crossed with the China Roses and the Musk Roses. The gentlemen responsible for bringing them to us are Philippe Noisette, a French emigrant and his brother Louis. One of their first seedlings, "Blush Noisette", is used world-wide in gardens.

Most of these roses flower later in the season, rather than early. Clearly, the blooming season of Madame is from June, right into the month of December, given a mild fall. I have gone out and picked blossoms on Christmas Day (admittedly only one year so far)! Good on-going continuous flowering is from June until November.

This past summer, while wandering about my garden, coffee in hand, I did what I always do…go to one of my Madame’s for an early morning chat! I looked up at one of the newer plants of her and said...boy, oh boy...not long now! In my garden, most of my climbers are in their 20’s! Here's what you can expect from a plant of Madame...the first year you plant, she'll sleep; the second year, she'll creep; and the third year, she'll leap! Watch out! The growth is phenomenal! The blossoms are worth waiting for... you'll see what I mean. I have one of her on an arbor in my front garden on the southwest corner...she goes crazy there and her very supple canes make it very easy to lay her across an arbor. Plus, she's relatively thornless!

In the Southern US she has been known to grow to be 25'. Now, that's with oodles of heat!!! Mine up here grow around 15'. As far as hardiness, zones 6-9, and up, but, alas, she’s a little tender for Prairie weather.