BryonySeries: Purple Roses

I don't remember how purple roses became a BryonySeries motif.

But because they are, loved ones people have gifted me with purple roses through the years ("All The Purple Roses I have Known") with Cindy being the top and most frequent "gifter" of purple roses). 

My mother always grew roses, so I have lovely memories of those bushes, some pink and some yellow, and their heavenly scent.

But how I decided to incorporate roses into the BryonySeries is lost in my mind of writing the first draft of the very first book, "Bryony" almost twenty years ago.

I remember researching the symbolism of roses and deciding that the mythical purple rose, with its symbolism of enchantment, was exactly what the story needed.

I have an old file on the computer called "Bryony and Purple Roses" from February 2, 2009, that only has scant information on white bryony - nothing at all about purple roses.

How purple roses came to be associated with the BryonySeries young dandy vampire Henry Matthews (or how that young vampire evolved from a staid old professor vampire) is also lost to my memory.

The purple rose motif only shows up in the original "drop of blood" trilogy and two of the "Before The Blood" books. And purple roses only receive a scant mention in "The Phoenix."

Yet, if you ask some people who've read BryonySeries books, "What color do you associate with the BryonySeries?" the answer is most often is, "purple."

I have no idea - truly - why that motif instead of others in the series has really resonated with people.

But here is the first purple roses reference from "Bryony."

The room, although not very large, felt warm and comfortable, with its wine-hued carpeting and wallpaper, overflowing bookshelves, and rich mahogany furniture. Several desks sat at the east end of the room. One held a heavy, black, silver, oddly shaped typewriter, very different from her mother’s slim, beige, electric machine. Vases of fragrant, purple roses filled the room. Fully awake now, Melissa rested her head on the back of the settee and blinked in surprise.

For reasons I won't share here (spoilders) "Bryony" protagonist Melissa Marchellis becomes very attached to purple roses, to the extent that an envelope of dried purple rose petals are one of her most precious treasures in "Visage" and that she keeps a vase of fresh purple roses in her bedroom "Staked!"

Her eyes fell on the envelope, and she remembered Henry’s admonition to forget vampires, including him—her undead chaperone--and especially John, who brought only death to Bryony. She could resist no longer. Carefully sliding her hand past the dried purple rose petals, Melissa retrieved the sheet of paper whose words she had long since memorized. ("Visage")

Melissa sat at her desk correcting papers by the tiny lamp. It was the only light in the entire room except for the pink candle she burned near the vase of the fresh purple roses she always insisted Kellen buy for her. ("Staked!")

But as enchanting as these passages sound - to Melissa and to some readers - the purple roses might just be more curse than blessing. 

Pre-vampire Henry Matthews was a very young boy selling newspapers on a busy street corner with his father when he first encountered the term "purple rose" in the BryonySeries prequel "Before The Blood: Henry Matthews."

Harold worked Western; Henry worked Clark. When the morning rush dissipated, Harold again swapped the pouches and scampered away. Henry guarded the newspapers and watched the caravan. The women sat in clusters and wove baskets. The men played stringed instruments.

One dark beauty in brilliant hues locked Henry's wondering gaze with her rippling irises.

So many beads, Henry mused. So many, many beads.

They rattled from her waist, dangled off her hair, and wrapped her neck in a chromatic embrace.

"Son, take a break."

They lounged against the remaining bundles, munching stale ham sandwiches and gulping hot coffee from the street peddlers. Soon after Harold disappeared between the buildings, no doubt seeking his own relief behind Henry's trash barrel, Henry sensed movement behind him.

Before he could react, a withered rose pressed into his palm.

"True love spumes," a woman hissed, "when the purple rose blooms."

Henry yelped, his father's strong hand yanked him away, and the gypsy fled. ("Before The Blood: Henry Matthews")

Henry, again for undisclosed spoiler reasons, winds up signing all his original oil paintings with a purple rose instead of penmanship. The indention denotes a flashback.

But these (images) disturbed her less than the purple roses. The artist had painted a single one at the right-hand base of each image.

       "What this?"

            "My signature."

            " I thought a signature required the alphabet and penmanship."

            "Not always."

Back in the passageway, she locked the door and tucked the key next to her heart. She had to get dressed and find Henry. ("Before The Blood: Bryony Simons")

And, of course, the purple rose also comes to symbolize the rivalry between John Simons the pianist and composer and Henry Matthews, the writer, artist, and horticulturist, summarized nicely in the purple music roses Jan Stack handmade and gifted to me, to distribute at events.

Back to the top image with the crocheted flowers and white box. 

Somewhere in the haze of health battles these last couple of years, Cindy crocheted the purple rose bouquet, which has sat near my office supplies, waiting for its own special post.

She gifted me the purple rose buds she crocheted and the purple rose in the box for Christmas 2024, which we celebrated on January 7, 2025. 

But on that day I was in the tail end of a bad virus and then straight into one health challenge after another for the rest of the year. So both boxes stayed near my desk, waiting for a quiet moment to give them their due and very heartfelt appreciation.

Those boxes waited so long, I no longer remembered what the "angel blessings" purple rose looked like. 

But yesterday, I finally had that quiet moment - and I took the photo you saw at the beginning of this blog.

And then I opened the box.

Unlike Henry, for whom purple roses were more curse than blessing, more heartache than joy, I rejoiced to see the gift before me, my own little angel of purple roses.

To me, they symbolized the parallel prayers, good wishes, and blessings that silently and out of my view, accompanied me through the challenges of 2025.