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Miniature Conversation Pieces
Something there is of sun and wind Of rain-and clean bright summer air Held captive when a bowl is filled With roses.
GRACE NOLL CROWELL
This world would be a lonely place without conversation. We all enjoy talking about something with somebody, but many of us are shy. We are often at a loss for something to make conversation about, especially something interesting and pleasant.
If I were to suggest a way to "win friends and influence people" it would be, grow miniature roses. I know of no pleasanter way to win friends than growing, showing and sharing miniature roses.
Take a small bouquet of miniatures to a friend in the hospital or to the office or shop where you work. You won't have to make conversation; the little roses will set the scene. You can relax and answer people's questions about them.
Very often when people see miniatures for the first time in a lapel, in a tiny corsage or small vase, their first question is, "Are they real?" Most people are not really convinced until they touch or smell the roses, but it does get a conversation started! When their doubts about the reality of these tiny roses have been satisfied, the way is open to tell them of the pleasure miniatures have brought to, you and others.
2. A conversation piece miniature rose showing the comparison in size between 'New Penny' and a man's ring.
There is no barrier to conversation once these little flowers have broken the ice. You can relate to interested ears how they may be grown in almost any garden, even in pots, boxes and other -containers. Tell how you use them in decorations, as table favors and gifts. One lady told me that she "pretties up" small gift packages such as glasses of homemade jelly with small bouquets of miniature roses. Many are the tiny rosebuds which small children have pulled from my lapel after church! When I forget to wear one someone always notices and asks, "Where is the rose today?"
Conversation can be more than idle chatter; it can be a meeting of minds. It can lead to new adventures in the fields of gardening, art, music, and literature. New friendships may be formed and old friendships deepened, just because someone met you over a rose. Miniature roses seem to have a magic capacity to promote togetherness.
just as proud mothers, and dads too, tend to enthusiastically tell of the exploits of their Johnie or Mary, so rose .growers tend to boast of their roses. Miniatures seem to draw more than their share of attention and thus are good conversation makers. We like to tell of experiences in growing this or that variety; of the merits (or demerits) of the latest introductions we may have tried. We brag about the ribbons won and, before we realize it, we not only find that miniatures have helped us make interesting conversation, but more important, we have made new friends.
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