"A Warm Fuzzy: Bellita" by Linda Kimmel. The following article is from the August 2006 issue of The Rosarian Newsletter.

I was sitting at my desk, in my tiny office, stacks of paper abound. I glanced up from the computer screen to peer through the dark gray tinted glass that simulates a window. I squinted, trying to see through the glass. Is it still raining, I wondered? The sky and earth seem to merge into one; a solid mass of gray and mist. It is a gloomy day, I thought. It looks more like a January day than mid July. As I stared out the window one of my colleagues strolled by; she joined me peering through the window, trying to decipher the weather.

"By the way", my friend said, "Bellita is doing great!" I turned to search her face, my brows twisted into a question mark, "Bellita?" I queried. "You know, the rose I got from you," she answered. My friend is speaking of the Great Lake Roses that our Rose Society sold this spring. I do not know of a rose named Bellita and we certainly did not sell one by that name. "If I remember right", I responded after a few moments of thought, "you got Lavender Lassie". I pretended to strain my memory, but in fact, I remembered it well. I did not want to sell that plant. I was hoping no one would buy it, so I could take it home with me. As Lavender Lassie sat on the table for sale, next to the hot pinks and red roses, she was slow to move. It only served to torture me. Odd, I thought, Lavender Lassie was my favorite among the roses on the table for sale, and yet one of the last roses to sell. Lavender Lassie, Hybrid Musk, has a delicate pink to light lavender blooms, semi-double, yellow stamen that makes her quite striking when fully open. Add disease resistant, winter hardy with prolific repeat blooming, and this rose becomes a treasurer for any gardener.

"Oh yeah, well that is her official name (Lavender Lassie)" my friend said, "but, I renamed her Bellita. In my yard, she is called Bellita. It means 'the beautiful one' in Spanish. She certainly deserves her new name, because she is 'the beautiful one'!" A smile stretched across my friend's face as she talked about her rose plant. "Ahhhhh," I said, nodding, "I like it."

Suddenly, the day didn't seem so gray. It is wonderful how roses can bring people together; how two people can connect in such a deep way, sharing only one rose bush in common. How sharing, even for a brief few minutes, discussing roses, can make a dark gray rainy day seem a lot brighter. I am glad that my friend has Bellita in her garden; I expect it will bring her years of happiness.

If I ever have the good fortune or opportunity to name a new rose, such as a new seedling or a sport, I think I will name it... 'Bellita.'