Update: Finally after almost a year, we are awaiting the delivery of this gift for Spring 2021 that we made last May 2020.
8 May 2020
The hubby wanted to send a gift to a dear friend, Rita, in Vancouver. So I thought about ordering a chocolate torte from Plaisir Sucre and seeing if they were open for ordering online. The best French pastry from Fabrice would complement Rita’s wonderful cooking. Rita is amazing in the kitchen. Rita is amazing at so many things…painter, artist, style and garden. More about this another day. The only person I know who has been making bread, pizza and all sorts of Italian specialties from scratch for years. Now everyone is baking bread!
Unless one knows what’s on someone else’s wish list we often gift people with what we want to receive ourselves. Sometimes it’s better for the recipient if you ask them what they want. I called Rita to ask what she wanted.
It made my ears tingle. She did not hesitate. She knew exact what she wanted and she said it. Wow. “You want bare what from whom” I clarified. This was completely new territory for me. She said it again slowly this time “a bare root rose from David Austin Roses.” Ok. Roses. Got it!
But I didn’t get it!
I missed the order window by three weeks. They must be ordered by April 15 for Canada. And calling around the US and Vancouver I still could not get it. Turns out there is an exact time to order because there are windows of weather and temperature when they must be planted. Things I did not know because I do not garden.
I do not have a green thumb; the opposite. I am a murderer of plants. I killed two Ikea Ficus Microcarpa Ginseng plants awhile back and recently almost killed a Ric Rac gifted to my husband by guillotining it in the dark with our window blinds. Rather I’m more of a, “Give me a view of the garden but I’m not stepping into it or touching the soil” type of person.
“The Rolls Royce of Roses”
looking at the David Austin Roses site for Rita’s gift. Now I discovered what is the metier of roses. I could certainly get behind that. It’s all about choosing the right roses for you garden space, climate and planting at the right time. It says, caring for Roses are not difficult at all like people think.
So I called and requested the David Austin Catalog. And while this was the US outpost of David Austin, the custom service lady who called me back seemed to have a very British politeness and grace. It all appeals to me. David Austin Roses is my kind of global enterprise.
But what about Rita? It turns out the gift is being able to connect and share something common together. That’s really the most fun in the world someone could have with a friend. So this is a long-term endeavor. Placing the order for Rita’s Gertrude Jekyll and Evelyn for April/May next year. While I perused all the David Austins to settle on the Vanessa Bell for our home. We will have to wait until January/February 2021. But what a new thing to look forward to. In such a delayed but gratifying way.
A garden takes patience as always friendship with Rita teaches me something foreign…exotic… To put knowledge and quality above all else – that is Rita!
Photo at the very top of the post: David Austin Desdemona
