Shadows Wash Away ; in the Rain of the Rose Garden - Candle

Shadows Wash Away in the Rose Garden—The Candle

Before I made candles, I made gardens—landscaping by trade, working in different nurseries. Shadows Wash Away in the Rose Garden is for my coworker and friend, Dawn.

Dawn wasn’t just a person, she was a force. Wild and unfiltered. A Lady of Shallot in the wrong climate. A fiery redhead from Chino who handled the heat. She didn’t care much for rules, but Dawn knew her plants. Roses, euphorbia, silver bush morning glories. She’d laugh, lean back, and say, “Just let them grow how they want. They’re just trying to survive, same as us.”

She’d been in the nursery game since the ’80s. Crass, tough, loyal, and hilarious. She called my dog ugly, and I loved her even more for it.

One day, she had a cardiac arrest right in my arms. Her last words were, “Call my mom.” I tried to let her know she wasn’t alone. The EMTs came, cut her shirt open, and that was it. She was wearing a purple bra. I drew a heart in black Sharpie where her heart had stopped, right on the cement. Her rack looked great, though. She would have appreciated that.

For months, I cried myself to sleep, quietly haunted by how fast it all happened. Death doesn’t care how big you live or how hard you laugh. It comes when it comes. She was supposed to move to Big Bear that day. We were just eating fish tacos, for fuck’s sake.

But here’s the thing about gardening: It’s a thinning of the veils.

Dawn was never just a part of this world. She lived just outside of it, showing the rest of us how to do the same.

I feel her in my garden now, in the stubborn way the roses refuse to grow straight or get powdery mildew. I hear Dawn’s phantom making some off-color quip in the crunch of the leaf litter beneath my fake Uggs. Her laughter echoes and swirls all around me like pink smoke, only to be washed away in the rain of the rose garden at dawn.

Dawn rides the thermals now. She is part of the wind and the dirt and the morning dew. I am so thankful to have known her.

Top Notes:

Rosewater, Bergamot, Lemon Zest, Dewy Green Leaves

Heart Notes:

Geranium, Ylang Ylang, White Tea Rose, Orris Root

Base Notes:

Vetiver, Patchouli, Amber Resin, Wet Earth

11oz | Veggie Soy Wax Blend | 50-hour burn time

Lovingly hand-poured in Los Angeles, California.

Listen While You Burn

This candle comes with a curated playlist to deepen the experience.

🎶 Listen Here