The traditional story of the Confederate rose says that it was in bloom during a particularly bloody battle of the Civil War. A slain Confederate soldier fell beside a rose and his blood spilled into the ground at the base of shrub. The flowers, which had started out white in the morning, absorbed the slain soldier's blood throughout the day, so that by evening they had turned a deep, rosy red.

Such a story pulls at the heart strings of a Southerner. Many have ancestors that fought and died during "The War." In fact, tracing just one line on my family tree shows that eight brothers went off to war. Most were killed, dying on the battlefield or in prisons up north. It is a cherished remembrance for many.

Texture by Kim Klassen Cafe.

The traditional story of the Confederate rose says that it was in bloom during a particularly bloody battle of the Civil War. A slain Confederate soldier fell beside a rose and his blood spilled into the ground at the base of shrub. The flowers, which had started out white in the morning, absorbed the slain soldier's blood throughout the day, so that by evening they had turned a deep, rosy red.

Such a story pulls at the heart strings of a Southerner. Many have ancestors that fought and died during "The War." In fact, tracing just one line on my family tree shows that eight brothers went off to war. Most were killed, dying on the battlefield or in prisons up north. It is a cherished remembrance for many.

Texture by Kim Klassen Cafe.