Christmas Roses
Festive ornamentation leads to a greater number of plants and flowers being put around the house and also in the homes which generally have no garden or greenery in their abodes for the greater part of the year. Thus Christmas plants are more widely circulated than other plants. The problem that one confronts here is that quite a number of these plants are lethal and can be a risk for the children in the family. Children often tend to swallow the parts of the plants as they appear extremely appealing. The pets in the house are at a greater danger zone as the plants are easily accessible to them and they might just eat the plants. Hence we wish to bring to notice to our buyers the dangerous situations that the plants can bring about if they fail to pay adequate attention on their pets and children.
The very name Christmas Rose signifies the reverence, trust and worship that we nurture for Christ, our Redeemer. This flower is most rightly called the Christmas blossom as though its source lies in England, it is considered to thrive in the snow-capped mountains of Central Europe, in the peak of the winter season and thus during the Christmas season. This flower, which is white in colour with petals that have pink apices, is also commonly known as Snow Rose or Winter Rose as it flourishes in the winter season when all other forms of vegetation succumbs to the snowy climate. Here goes an exciting folklore that affirms, most convincingly, the aptness of the name of this rose.
The myth says that when baby Jesus was born and the shepherds and the three wise men were on their way to visit him with valuable gifts, a small, poverty-stricken shepherdess by the name of Madelon noticed them. At that time, in the frost-bitten chilly winter night, she was looking after her sheep. It was then that she saw the troupe of the wise men with their exquisite presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh rushing to meet Christ and the shepherds, who were notified by the angels of the birth of Christ, with their gifts of fruits, honey and dove. The shepherds whose gifts were not as monetarily expensive as the wise men’s but equal in their faith and love were following the caravan of the three wise men. The little girl was quite taken up with what she saw and she asked them where they were heading towards. On being told, she too wished to visit the little baby Christ but to her sheer agony and disappointment, she realized that she had nothing to give to the Son of God and the King of Kings!
She desperately looked for some flower in the snow but found none. Hapless and dismayed, she broke into tears. An angel noticed her and out of sympathy transformed her love and devotion for the little baby Jesus into a Christmas Rose. To her relief and happiness, she found this flower, dug deep into the snow, just in front of her and she took it to Christ. Thus Christmas Rose is associated with profound Christian love and worship. A ritual that is connected to this myth and observed in central and northern Europe is to cut a branch of the cherry tree and preserve it in the water in a lukewarm room right from the commencement of the Advent till the Christmas day, the period when it is supposed to bloom and yield flowers.