The reporter fought her way through the crowd, repeatedly apologizing for stepping on people’s toes. She momentarily lost her bag, and camera crew, in the crowd, but she quickly retrieved them without loosing her place near the front of the line.
“Ah, finally!” she said as she managed to get to the front. “Ms. Love Potion’! Care to tell the lovely audience sitting at home about yourself?”
The bloom turned toward the reporter.
“I would love to, madam,” the rose said, bowing slightly. “Now, where to begin? Ah, I know. I am known as a tree rose called ‘Love Potion’. I have been bred in the United States since 1993 and I’ve been available in greenhouses since 1994.”
‘Love Potion’ took a moment to sigh dreamily at the happy memories.
“As you can see, my petals are a mauve color. I emit a strong, raspberry fragrance that I adore. I can have 26 to 40 petals, and my blooms flush throughout the season. In addition to that, I can grow to be between 35 inches and 4 feet! That’s 90 to 120 centimeters!
“
Quite
fortunately,” ‘Love Potion’ held her head high, “I
am VERY disease resistant! Like many roses, however, my caretakers
are required to remove my old canes and my dead or diseased wood and
to prune back canes that cross. In warmer climates, I like it if they
cut back my remaining canes by about one-third. In places with colder
weather, you might have to prune a little bit more.”
The tree rose took this moment to shiver.
“Brr! Is it getting chilly here?” she asked.
The reporter brought the microphone closer to the rose.
“Tell us how it feels to be Rose of the Month, Ms. ‘Love Potion’!” the reporter begged.
‘Love Potion’ took a moment to give an autograph before turning back to the reporter.
“It feels positively lovely! My friend, ‘Black Magic’, told me how wonderful it felt to be chosen. But my nominator, Ms. Brazeale, kept complaining about the difficulty she had trying to find the proper information for her article.”
“What kind of trouble did she have?” the reporter asked.
‘Love Potion’ sighed, “She had no idea how many sites there were on the Internet promoting “magic” love potions, spells, and charms. She found it very frustrating! Also, she said that the rose growing sites she came across barely had any information on me. They just had a picture and a few words describing what I smell like. Can you believe it? Couldn’t they have said a little more? I’m sorry her article won’t be very long.”
The reporter turned to the camera.
“And there you have it, the back story on ‘Love Potion’, February’s Rose of the Month! Now, cut! Let’s get back to the van and edit that video.”