Please take the time to smell the roses
In 2000 the then Timaru Beautifying Society gifted the debt-free Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden to the citizens of South Canterbury for all to enjoy.
In 1999, 1200 roses were planted in the garden and since then a group of volunteers has spent 5400 hours dead-heading the blooms. This figure includes 60 hours from the current season.
It is recognised that in an average season roses bloom from mid to late November, through to March or April.
During this period the volunteers meet once a week without fail rain or sunshine, statutory and public holidays to attend to the blooms.
Any knowledgeable gardener will appreciate the effects of the trying conditions we have experienced in the last two weeks.
For several years now the New Zealand Gardens Trust has recognised the Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden as a garden of national significance and in 2013 the World Federation of Rose Societies acknowledged the garden as a Garden of International Significance.
May I respectfully suggest to your correspondent of December 9 that she and her friend revisit the Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden, spend a few minutes contemplating how this garden and its significance came into being, and then embrace the original concept and - just smell the roses. Timaru