Yes, Sally is wonderful. And so is the rose, which was approved by Julia before she died. As you can see, the rose is deeply golden, a shade described as butter-gold in the information about the flower. Anyone who knew Julia, knows she adored butter. And anyone who knows butter, knows that only very good butter is this wonderful color, so I’m assuming that the model was something yummy, like the French butter Julia loved so much.
My Julia Child rose is on the deck, right outside my kitchen door in Connecticut, and, when it’s warm outside, you can almost smell the flowers the instant you open the door. When I cut them and put them on my desk, the fragrance is so powerful it almost gets in the way of working.
I couldn’t put my finger on the rose’s scent. It smells profoundly rosy in a way that flowers from a florist never do. To me, its perfume is very sweet, slightly exotic and just a smidgen spicy. But when I looked it up, I discovered what the professionals have to say about its scent: It has a sweet licorice perfume! Well, that explains my affection for the flower, it’s got three things I love – Julia Child, butter and licorice – rolled into one!