A rose called Afternoon Delight
Recalls love, perhaps a person
But the good Baroness Rothschild
And her erstwhile husband, Baron
With roses, we commemorate
Their wealth and rank of State
With both hybrid and heritage
Bush Rose’s names and image
But who was the Beautiful Girl
Who Floribunda Betty Cuthbert
Perhaps a very Blushing Knockout
Or a Brilliant Pink Iceberg
Be we infamous or famous
Will a rose one day recall us…
© Andrew Wilson, 2026
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, merrildsmith in Poetics invites us to celebrate the names of roses, a long list of which you can find here (from which the photos are taken).
Hi Andrew, thank you for adding your poem. An interesting question at the end.
In the prompt, I did state you should NOT to use the word, rose. 😊
Sorry! I was very rushed this week and didn’t read it properly…
Who knows! That’s an interesting question.
By the way, I so enjoyed your collab with Merril.
Thanks so much, Punam – I wrote to Merril this morning to further explain why I misread the prompt – “A long time ago, I worked as a PA to the commercial Director of Age Concern England – one of the two major charities looking out for older people here. He asked me to look into the possibility of naming a rose for somebody, and so I talked to the largest grower of roses in Northern Ireland and learned that firstly, it takes about two years to develop a new rose, secondly, it takes a further two years for the rose to be tested at The Gardens of the Rose (which was just nearby where I lived) and thirdly, there was a waiting list of people wanting roses for naming. Lastly, it takes another couple of years to propagate the new variety ready for commercial release – needless to say, we didn’t go ahead with that project… The Gardens of the Rose grow all varieties of rose including testing new ones, to make sure they will work when grown by ordinary gardeners.”
Lovely to include the pictures! I can answer one of your interested questions (as could any Aussie of my generation, but I’ll let Wikipedia say it):
Betty Cuthbert
Elizabeth Alyse Cuthbert (20 April 1938 – 6 August 2017), was an Australian athlete and a four-time Olympic champion.[1] She was nicknamed Australia’s “Golden Girl”.[2] During her career, she set world records for 60 metres, 100 yards, 200 metres, 220 yards and 440 yards. Cuthbert also contributed to Australian relay teams completing a win in the 4 × 100 metres, 4 × 110 yards, 4 × 200 metres and 4 × 220 yards. Cuthbert had a distinctive running style, with a high knee lift and mouth wide open.[3] She was named in 1998 an Australian National Treasure and was inducted as a Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame in 2000.[4]_
Look up her image; she was very pretty, like the particular rose that bears her name. And a sweet person too.
Thank you so much for identifying Betty Cuthbert – that is a fascinating story and the rose is a worthy repository of her name!
I like your question at the end, and love the photos you posted.