Time To Stop and Smell the Roses

Less than a dozen blooms and immediately, the sharp edges in our home are softened. But flowers do more than simply decorate our interiors. Picking a few flowers, even wild from the roadside, (my favourites), placing them in a vase in our space, has the power to interact with all our senses.

Take this 'old world garden' variety, some would say a very ordinary rose, the blossoms are too delicate, the petals start falling as soon as I touch them. In another day or two, their beautiful soft pink colour will fade to white. These are all the reasons we treasure them when we have them. Lightly perfumed, and wonderfully old fashioned, the scent reminds us of mothers and grandmothers. Their fragility suggests we enjoy the simple things when we can. Flowers soothe us, they make a house a home and provide a fresh, comforting and joyous connection to the outdoors and garden.

Since hurricane Melissa passed, leaving our brothers and sisters and our land battered and bruised, our little island has been in recovery. People, trees, fruits, vegetables, animals, birds, insects, the very dirt was damaged, every living thing has had a shock, which brings me back to these rose plants. Recently, I've noticed that they have started to bloom again, and much more abundantly than before. I allowed myself to pick just a few stems, not too many because I am so grateful and relieved that the bees, once again, have natural food to feed on, I would hate to deprive them. For their welfare and ours too!

In the days after the hurricane, we noticed one or two bees coming in and hanging around the honey bottle in the kitchen. Of course, they were starving, not one blossom could be seen around. We put out a mixture of granulated sugar and water on plates along with a few pieces of fruit to see if that could tide them over the period of loss of their food.

They came...only one or two at first... then in a blink, in alarming numbers, they found the plates of sugar water and soon, we were invaded inside outside and all around the house.

We learnt a thing or two about these clever, hard working, amazing little pollinators. They have terrific memories. Offer breakfast once and they demand it every day, and they are persistent! Like clockwork, each morning they would arrive to the same spot they first found food, completely ignoring that in fear for our own welfare, their grazing table had been relocated to the furthest ends of the garden. Agitated and cross with us to find nothing in the usual spots, they were stressed. They were not their usual placid, busy selves, though, amazingly, not one tried to bite.

A few tips if you ever have to feed the bees. Locate the food offering a good distance from your house, they will invade your house if the food is too close by. Offer only granulated sugar (bees do not digest brown sugar well). A good mixture is 1 part sugar to 3 parts water. Mix well until the sugar is properly dissolved. Put a few stones or fresh fruit in the plate so they have safe places to stand and perch as they can drown in the syrup. We did not ever see left over syrup, they stayed and drank every drop, in fact we had to replenish more than once a day, but if there is left over syrup, change the mixture daily. This syrup is only to tide them over until nature recovers, discontinue once flowers begin to bloom again. Please contact a bee expert if you cannot feed them and need to relocate them. Do not be tempted to feed them honey whether commercial or from other hives as potential bacteria can be fatal to them.

This little story started with a pretty picture of a vase of roses, but as I took the photograph and later started writing, I realised that I picked the flowers in need of comfort, normalcy. I noticed the bees feeding and felt grateful. But things are not back to normal. With the economy seemingly at a standstill, life continues to be difficult, the last few weeks, days, this whole crazy year, lives the world over, have been strained. The nauseating politics worldwide and for us here in Jamaica the devastation of large sections of our beloved island has left us unable to calmly process our changing world. Even though we do everything we can to help others, at times we feel helpless, it will never be enough. We feel guilt that our brothers and sisters here (and in many other countries) are going through such hardship while the east of the island, is relatively unscathed. Like the bees, when we are under stress, we are not our best selves.

I believe the best thing we can do is acknowledge and forgive ourselves for any unkindness. Give ourselves a good shake, be kinder, more thoughtful, and forgive those near to us who perhaps haven't been their best selves. Then do what feels true, for you. Choose to see the goodness in the world, because there is goodness happening around us. If in doubt, just look at the aid that has poured into our little island from countries and individuals from far and wide. For that we are truly, truly grateful. As we had to do in covid, once again, we pivot.

For the time being, I am back in my garden. Hands in the soil, growing food, gathering a bunch of herbs, cooking a nice meal, baking bread, placing flowers on the table, these simple things are probably cliche, but I find working in the earth healing, being out in nature, grounding, cooking a good meal nourishing, for the soul. The results of planting a seed, tending it, watching it grow into food, never gets old, it is simply magical. No matter how small, whatever it is that gives you joy, try to find the time to include it in your life. Be a little selfish, take the time to stop and smell the roses. If we are gentle on ourselves, we will be in a much better place to help others. Like our roses that were battered by the storm, I trust that we will all bloom once again.