Challenge Yourself

The Flower (Jacqueminot)

A single long-stemmed rose wrapped in clear plastic with a transparent green plastic water capsule on the diagonal cut end. The green stem is dotted with stout thorns, sharp enough to puncture skin and greenish brown at the base becoming brown at the tip. Several leaves branch off the stem in an alternate pattern, the rich green matching the stem, but not the thorns. The outer petals have started to peel away, showing the inner petals to still be tightly furled. The sepals uncurled, curving away from the sanguine brilliance to reach for the stem. The bud is too tightly closed to see inside, the center impenetrable to scrutiny. Each opened petal slashes outward, a blade of dark red against the green leaves kept adjacent to it by the plastic wrapping. Recently spritzed, tiny water droplets speckled the flower and part of the wrapping, an artificial dewdrop effect ruined by the plastic. The deep red of the petals deepens toward the closed center, the color of congealed blood. The petals are smooth in appearance, soft and fragile. The texture is reminiscent of silk, but with a vibrance reserved for the living. The stem is smooth and straight and surprisingly strong. The leaves are rough by comparison, but not nearly as much as the sandpaper tongue of a cat. The thorns could be broken off, leaving small depressions in their wake, but cling valiantly to the stem until forced away. The thorns are strong, their sharp points piercing any object to come in contact. The cut end, diagonal in direction, shows the outer greenish stem to be a circumferential wall around a pale, almost white center. This end also shows the length of time since the last cut, becoming browner and with a residue on the edge of the stem to signal the time for a trim. The spritzed drops are not large enough to magnify the veins in the rose’s petals, but give it a glistening appearance when light hits it. The inner bud is well formed, giving a faintly pear shaped figure with a slight vase opening at the top. The outer petals drop away, exposing the heart of the dark red rose and adding complexity to the shape of the inner petals. Each outer petal peels uniquely, bending backward with the top edge become ruffled as it is separated from the bud. The heart is fragile, inner petals closed around the reproductive organs and easily crushed by hands or hail. The outer petals have a translucent quality, despite the dark color, that allows the feeling of light passing through it, though the heart remains a solid looking core, and tempting the viewer to trace the lines within the petal. The rougher leaves also have the veins, but light does not travel through them as easily. The short nappy velvet of the top side of the leaf contrasts starkly with the ribbed bottom, which is also a little lighter in color. The scent marks the rose, faintly hinting of summer and rain and warmth.