How important are flowers in reality?

Yesterday we attended a funeral. She was my Brother-in-laws Mom-in-law, and my Mom's friend. Such a sad occasion to have to witness. We saw a lot of flowers and plants at the service. Many colors and styles.

It seems over the years people order stuff to convey feelings of sympathy and to comfort families at times of great sorrow such as this. I can tell you firsthand having lost my own Mother just almost a year ago. Reading a card from a family member or friend means a great deal.

There are many ways to convey sympathies, but flowers are still a very important part of this. So many times people have favorite colors or flowers and that is usually what people order for such occassions. I remember when my Grandma passed away thinking I wonder what she would choose?

Well that was easy, she would choose a little bit of everything because she was an avid gardener. So we did choose a little bit of everything. It suited her.
I also remember when my Father-in-law passed away. His favorite flower was red roses. So we made a grand arrangement of red roses that was very stately looking with lush greens. It suited him.

Over the years we have done many such suitable arrangements, Telephones for a telephone man, guitars, tennis rackets and many countless other things. It really helps a bereaving family to cope when they feel they have done something like that that suits the person they are buying for.

I am proud to have helped so many families over the years, even though so many times it was such a personal thing to the families, and yet somehow it became very personal to us too. So don't be afraid to send flowers or a plant to a funeral. It really is a great thing to do for a family to show you care in any way whatsoever.

Why do my roses not have a lot of fragrance?

Sometimes roses just have less fragrance. True. What causes this. Hybridizing.
Trying to make a certain quality in a rose by tissue culturing can give longer lasting, and bigger roses, but can also cause some of the fragrance to be lost.

If you notice Grandma's rose garden has lots more fragrance than most cut roses.
Natural fragrance via nature. Although some cut roses do have exceptional fragrance, like the colors, not red in other words. Sniff them out for yourself at a florist sometime. I always thought pinks had more scent. Go figure.

The other thing that we noticed was cold. Florists' store roses in cold temps to keep them fresh and so do transport companies to wholesalers and so on. When roses are arranged and fresh from the cold the fragrance is usually minimal. Just let them set out at room temperature and what fragrance they do have will be stronger.

So should you stay away from roses that do not smell like roses? No. that is sometimes modern technology at work. They will still last and look pretty.