I was shopping this morning when I walked passed the fruit shop and saw that they were selling some rather nice bunches of roses. On impulse, I decided that I would buy a bunch of them for Jill for Mother’s Day. They cost me the princely sum of $16.

I know that Jill is not my mother, but she does try to ‘mother’ me all the time, so I thought that they were appropriate.

Now, the last time that I bought her flowers, Jill’s immediate question was “What have you done wrong, now?” I thought that I might be in for the same sort of response again but I must have a more honest look now a days as she just gave me a kiss and said “How Nice”.

The most interesting thing about these roses was to find out their origin. The label on the cellophane wrap was branded ‘Uhuru’. I thought that they might have come from Holland, as do most roses at this time of year, but a quick Google search showed that they actually came from Kenya. In fact they came from a little town called Timau which is just north of Mt Kenya, right on the equator in Africa. I would have driven through this town on my way up to Samburu National Park on my previous African visit. What a coincidence!

What really amazes me is just how the producer could grow them and freight them to an Australian importer who sold them to the retailer, who then sold them to me (assumedly all making a profit) for just $16. It’s not a lot of money for a nice bunch of ten dark red roses that were grown on the equator in Africa!