"A Rose by any Other Name"

Deep red, delicate pink, vibrant coral, subtle apricot – the colors waved at me from the roadside nursery, enticing me to tap the brakes and turn quickly into the parking lot and then welcoming me into the quaint, yet lively cottage garden shining in the morning sun. Anticipating the treasures I would see, I moseyed along crunchy stony paths, drifting through multihued flower beds as the beauty of God’s world took root in my heart and a gigantic smile planted itself on my face. God created color, and what pleasure it brings.

And then I saw them. Peeking out from the sun-loving cascade of  purple Duranta and the river of New Gold Lantana, the dainty island of orange and peach and fading pink blooms happily beckoned me to stop and marvel, and in less than 5 minutes, I was the joyful owner of a small, sweet, lovely Coral Drift rose.  

I wanted the perfect rose to plant in my garden as a reminder of the lovely ladies at the First United Methodist Church in Hempstead, Texas, and I found it.

Tucked into small spots in the garden, the Coral Drift is a repeat bloomer, a vibrant salmon-tinged rose that brightens garden walks and paths as it spills into the landscape and fills in empty places lacking in color. From the Knock-out Rose family, the Drift Roses resist disease, refuse to wilt in tough Texas summers, and rally during cold winters. A rose by any other name should be as blessed.

Oblivious to its beauty, the Coral Drift rose had whispered my name, and now she’s dancing in my cottage garden, an elegant reminder of God's love that drifted and hovered and surrounded me as I walked through the doors of a tiny, Texas church carefully planted in God's earthly garden.

And when I rock on my back porch, the Coral Drift Rose reminds me to pray for a group of women whose joy lights up a room and whose fragrance of love welcomes those who enter their lives.

“…that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;” (William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2)