White flowers for Obama

Last October Obama slipped into Penny’s Flowers in Glenside, Pennsylvania and bought a dozen white roses with baby’s breath for his wife, Michelle, to celebrate their 16th anniversary. He flew back to Chicago that evening with plans for a romantic dinner. “He was looking at the white roses and thought they were the prettiest,” said shop owner Mary Darcy.

Earlier last summer Obama was spotted spreading a white flower lei into the ocean off Makapuu Beach in Hawaii in memory of his mother who died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 52. Her ashes were scattered into the sea.

White flowers stand for innocence, purity, friendship, truth, virtue, humility, reverence, and charm in the floral language. All are commendable attributes worthy of association to Obama’s presidency.

In honour of Obama here’s a selection of white-blooming flowers to grow for three seasons of enjoyment.

For spring there is candytuft, lily-of-the-valley, crocus, narcissus, tulips and violas. Summertime sparkles with daisies, iris, lilacs, dianthus, clematis, lilies, roses, yucca, petunias, dahlias, foxgloves, phlox, peonies, and many more. For the fall, add hellebores, windflower, and chrysanthemums.

Codepink, Women for Peace is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s encouraging supporters to contribute $5 towards the purchase of white roses in order to fill the White House with bouquets, reminding Obama to use his position of leadership and call for a ceasefire.

Want to plant a white rose in your garden to mark Obama’s first year as president? Try Honor, a satin-white hybrid tea rose that “keeps bloom in near perfect form, grows like a weed and is a blooming monster”.

Pascali is considered one of the world's top ten roses. The pure white flowers are produced in mass atop a clean, upright plant. The flowers have up to 35 petals, with a light, tea fragrance and the plant has good disease resistance.

Iceburg is an excellent floribunda shrub rose with plenty of long, cool-white buds that open as large, double roses. The light green glossy foliage makes a perfect backdrop for these clean white blooms.