Roses For Christmas - Gift Ideas

It is said that one of Cleopatra's gifts to Mark Antony was a room full bath with fragrant rose petals strewn across the floor to a depth of three meters! Personally, I'm not quite as extravagant or possess a large rose garden to get as much fresh produce leaves, but I appreciate the sentiment.

Christmas in the northern hemisphere means that we overlook our rose beds of bare sticks and some of us miss summer blooms, vibrant colors and delicate scents.

Christmas Gifts for rose lovers can help to preserve the sentiment and bring joy to an otherwise heavy heart. To help you with your gift giving plans, here are some gift ideas for rose lovers of your 'nice' list.

Use your own Roses

If you had the foresight to save and dry some of your own roses, why not use it to make a summer memory? A dry rose bud centerpiece or small door wreath both look nice, or how about the use of a variety of dried petals and a cinnamon stick to make up a potpourri that can easily be presented in a small wooden box with a rosebud.

Use your Rosehips

This wonderful little berry can be the source of many an unusual and welcomed gift. Cooked they become rosehip tea, rich in vitamin C or added to your door wreath of dried rose buds, they fill the Christmas color theme. My aunt has the best idea, however, she uses them to rosehip jelly. Now would not be a pot that go down and at Christmas time?

Get Crafty with petals

Dried rose petals, your own or purchased, can be used in papermaking, candle making and soap making. They bring some color and odor all of these crafts, and their value can easily be improved by the addition of a card with dandruff dried and pressed buttons. Gifts like these are even more acute if the card noted that the leaves used were grown in your rose bed!

Crystal and Glass

Okay, so you're not into crafts and you forgot to collect and dry your roses this year. No problem. How about a single rose in crystal or a small tiffany style lamp with a rose design motif or, my favorite, a crystal rose shaped pendant? There are some beautiful designs that are available to take shapes and colors pink and it would be perfect for your rose loving friends.

Books and Stuff

Actually I quite like a calendar full of rose pictures at this time of the year to receive. Books like '100 English Roses for the American Garden "or one of the Peter Beales books make good choices. How about "A Feast of Roses - An Illustrated Anthology of verse and prose" if you want a more lyrical vision, or rather 'and roses in the Table - A garden of recipes "for the budding chef cook on your list. Use the stationery and envelopes not to mention with printed buttons or the annual subscription rose to the American Rose Society. Then there is another favorite of mine, an annual subscription to my favorite magazine 'The Rose'.

Dabble in Oils

Not painting so much, although a nice framed picture of your favorite flower would be a great idea, but rose oils. It is worth considering because it encompasses both ends of the spending spectrum. Rosewater is both useful, fine fragrant and quite inexpensive, while rose attar (true rose oil!) Is both exotic and expensive. Who would not like a little gift in this category receive?