01-08-2021, Friday
Tonight, I watched a movie about designing and constructing the Gardens of Versailles, I chose it because the lead actress was Kate Winslet and because of my love of flowers. I felt the movie just like its title A Little Chaos.
After watching this movie, I realized that I should go to some real gardens to enjoy real flowers, instead of watching a movie. However, on the East Coast with its distinctive four seasons, there are no flowers in January gardens. I have to enjoy the flowers in my memory.
During the 2020 quarantine, my daughter, Shirah, and I visited the Boston Public Garden in June, it was my first time seeing the garden in the spring. On that day, the garden were quiet with very few visitors, and I was surprised to see the roses were surrounded by metal fences in the Boston Public Garden.
After we went back home, I said to my daughter: “In the Boston Public Garden, roses were all planted inside metal fences, far from reach. It seems roses are very rare here.”
My daughter said: “Shirah knew that you like to touch and smell flowers. When she saw that the roses were planted inside the metal fences in the garden this afternoon, she joked: ‘Your mother probably won’t be happy, because she won’t be able to touch the roses.’”
After I heard that, I laughed: “It is not a good experience if I can’t smell the roses. I thought roses were meant to let close by people enjoy their beauty and scent.”
I have been many rose gardens: rose gardens in palaces near London, rose gardens near Wurzburg, and the rose garden in Filoli. All the rose gardens I visited were open to visitors to touch and smell, except for the roses in the Boston Public Garden. It was a big surprise to me.
I think that the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden planted the best roses with the most varieties. After visiting the San Jose Rose Garden in the spring and the summer, I don’t need to visit any other rose gardens.
I felt it is better to enjoy flowers in an open-style garden than a garden separated by a metal fence.
Little Episodes
1. June 2020, roses inside metal fence in the Boston Public Garden:
2. April 2017, roses in the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden:
3. September 2016, roses in Wurzburg Residenz and a man in pink shirt:
