'Lafter'. hybrid tea
God surely love the flowers;
He puts them everywhere,
Upon the ocean strands,
In sunny desert lands,
In cool and shady bowers,--
The wanderer finds them there.
On meadow land and plain;
On mountainous terrain,
Wherever soil is found,
In beauty they abound.
But finer, and more rare,
In gardens given care
By loving human hands,
Are found the radiant plumes
Of richly-colored blooms.
From lily's purest white
To pansy's deepest dye,
There colors charm the eye,
Their fragrance gives delight.
With every rainbow hue,
From gold to deepest blue,
From rose to violet,
In every softest shade
And every brightest too;
In velvet textures set,
These blossoms, old and new
By God himself were made!
They bear such lovely names,
Too numerous to recall.
They have their various fames:
But queenliest of all,
That flower of sweet perfume,
Which every garden shows,
And everybody knows
Is God's supremeest bloom:--
The Rose!
---J. R. Perry, American Rose Annual 1951