Gather Rosebuds Meaning

(idiomatic) To enjoy life's immediate pleasures; to behave in a relaxed, carefree manner.

Example: 1890, Louis Napoleon Parker, St. George and the Dragon, Act 1, p. 2 (Google books):
  Pottleby: I like to see young people enjoying their youth—gathering rosebuds.
1995, John F. Deane, Flightlines, p. 117 (Google snippet view):
  Gather rosebuds, Gráinne, gather rosebuds. Look at your moths and butterflies and think of possibilities, think of love, Gráinne, think of open spaces and freedom and love.
2001 Sep. 10, Garrison Keillor, "In Praise of Laziness," Time (retrieved 5 April 2015):
  But the sun shines on me still, and like any other poet I am gathering rosebuds while I may, for the glory of flowers too soon is past and summer hath too short a lease.
2009 Dec. 28, John Tierney, "Carpe Diem? Maybe Tomorrow," New York Times (retrieved 5 April 2015):
  . . . Or the poets who have kept turning out exhortations to seize the day and gather rosebuds.
2011 April 22, Tris McCall, "CD Reviews: Helplessness Blues," NJ.com (retrieved 5 April 2015):
  â€œFleet Foxes” meandered and gathered rosebuds and killed time, but it also announced the arrival of a significant young songwriter.