The opening of the first wild roses signals summer has arrived, especially since the days get closer to the longest day of the year.

Summer Pink

The wild roses have started to bloom this year. And like many wildflowers, there are various legends and folklore stories for the flowers.

One story for the wild rose tells how abundant they once were and no noticed their decline until one summer there was no roses. Everyone was alarmed and at a meeting, the world was searched and a hummingbird found a solitary rose in a far off land. It was brought back and the medicine men and women tended the rose until it was healthy enough to give an account of the rose decline. The rose said the rabbits ate all the roses. The assembly was angry and the bears and wolves seized the rabbits by the ears and cuffed them, causing the rabbits ears to stretch and split their mouths open. The rose intervened so the animals didn’t kill all the rabbits as the rose stated the rest hadn’t watched out for the declining roses either. The rabbits retained their scars and roses received thorns to protect them but the rose never attain their former abundance.

The Disappearing Rose

On these warmer days, it doesn’t take long for flowers to open and fade, like the irises. And some of the wild roses have open and dropped petals to ground already, their full glory lasting for only a glimpse of time.

Short Time in Glory