I think of roses mostly at night. I see a field of roses mostly in buds, that are not yet open. They are waiting for the morning to hatch. Sometimes I close my eyes and sleep with this image in my head.
Rose of the May is a hybrid rose developed by the Dutch. Every year in May, however, the Centofolia rose blooms in Grasse, France, known as the perfume capital of the world. It is a very special and very rare rose which lasts only one month.
Rose of the May is the most fragrant rose in the world and can be only harvested at dawn by hands approximetly in a four hour block. Its fragrance is clear and sweet, with light notes of honey. These roses are harvested for the production of rose oil which is later used in perfumery.
The fact of transforming them into perfume, gives them a second life.
Centofolia roses grow on fields which have been cultivated by familiy for six generations. Rose pickers have to come from neighboring towns to start doing the job early in the morning. This repetitive activity leads them into some sort of meditational routine which keeps them a little bit obsessed with roses. It is their duty to pick as much as possible, not to waste a single one. Because if they are not picked the same day they lose some of its color and scent. At the end of the season, one gets sad. The field is empty. It is over again.
It is called the Rose of the May. It lasts only one month. Not more, not less. When it is quiet all you hear is tic, tic, tic. The sound leads you into meditation.
Rose de Mai
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