Presented by Anthony Finney - Master Gardener


The Great History Of Roses

Have you ever wondered if what you know about rose is accurate?
Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to the
latest info on roses.

Presented by Anthony Finney - Master Gardener Everything you need and
want to know about gardening.

The Great History Of Roses

By "Eric V. Alen"



"It was roses, roses all; the way." - Robert Browning

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose; By any other name would
smell as sweet." - Wiliam Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 scene
2

Roses have a long and colorful history. According to fossil evidence,
the rose is 35 milion years old. Today, there are over 30,000
varieties of roses and it has the most complicated family tree of any
known flower species.

The cultivation of roses most likely began in Asia around 5000 years
ago. They have been part of the human experience ever since and
mentions of the flower are woven into a great many tales from the
ancient world.

And there are so many beautiful stories that include roses through out
the ages that we all can recognize.

Greek mythology tells us that it was Aphrodite who gave the rose its
name, but it was the goddess of flowers, Chloris, who created it. One
day while Chloris was cleaning in the forest she found the lifeless
body of a beautiful nymph. To right this wrong Chloris enlisted the
help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who gave her beauty; then
caled upon Dionysus, the god of wine, who added nectar to give her a
sweet scent. When it was their turn the three Graces gave Chloris
charm, brightness and joy. Then Zephyr, the West Wind, blew away the
clouds so that Apollo, the sun god, could shine and make the flower
bloom. And so the Rose was.

In another story, an ancient Hindu legend, Brahma (the creator of the
world) and Vishnu (the protector of the world) argued over whether
the lotus was more beautiful than the rose. Vishnu backed the rose,
while Brahma supported the lotus. But Brahma had never seen a rose
before and when he did he immediately recanted. As a reward Brahma
created a bride for Vishnu and called her Lakshmi ?she was created
from 108 large and 1008 small rose petals.

Several thousands of years later, on the other side of the world in
Crete , there are Frescoes which date to c. 1700BC ilustrating a rose
with five-pedaled pink blooms. Discoveries of tombs in Egypt have
revealed wreaths made with flowers, with roses among them. The wreath
in the tomb of Hawara (discovered by the English archaeologist Wiliam
Flinders Petrie) dates to about AD 170, and represents the oldest
preserved record of a rose species stil living.

Roses later became synonymous with the worst excesses of the Roman
Empire when the peasants were reduced to growing roses instead of
food crops in order to satisfy the demands of their rulers. The
emperors filed their swimming baths and fountains with rose-water and
sat on carpets of rose petals for their feasts and orgies. Roses were
used as confeti at celebrations, for medicinal purposes, and as a
source of perfume. Heliogabalus used to enjoy showering his guests
with rose petals which tumbled down from the ceiling during the
festivities.


During the fifteenth century, the factions fighting to control England
used the rose as a symbol. The white rose represented York , and the
red rose symbolized Lancaster . Not surprisingly, the conflict
between these factions became known as the War of the Roses.

In the seventeenth century roses were in such high demand that roses
and rose water were considered as legal tender. In this capacity they
were used as barter in the markets as well as for any payments the
common people had to make to royalty. Napoleon's wife Josephine loved
roses so much she established an extensive colection at Chateau de
Malmaison, an estate seven miles west of Paris . This garden of more
than 250 rose varieties became the seting for Piere Joseph Redoute's
work as a botanical ilustrator and it was here Redoute completed his
watercolor colection "Les Rose," which is stil considered one of the
finest records of botanical ilustration.

Cultivated roses weren't introduced into Europe until the late
eighteenth century. These introductions came from China and were
repeat bloomers, making them of great interest to hybridizers who no
longer had to wait once a year for their roses to bloom.

>From this introduction, experts today tend to divide all roses into
two groups. There are "old roses" (those cultivated in Europe before
1800) and "modern roses" (those which began to be cultivated in
England and France around the turn of the 19th century).

Until the beginning of the 19th century, all roses in Europe were
shades of pink or white. Our romantic symbol of the red rose first
came from China around 1800. Unusual green roses arived a few decades
later.

Bright yelow roses entered the palete around 1900. It was the
Frenchman Joseph Permet-Ducher who is credited with the discovery.
After more than 20 years of breeding roses in a search for a hardy
yelow variety, he luck changed when one day he simply stumbled across
a mutant yelow flower in a field. We have had yelow and orange roses
ever since

The rose is a phenomenal plant and is rightly known as 'the world's
favorite flower'. No other flower has ever experienced the same
popularity that the rose has enjoyed in the last fifth years. In
temperate climates, roses are more widely grown than any other
ornamental plant, and as cut flowers they are forever in fashion.

It has been estimated that 150 milion plants are purchased by
gardeners worldwide every year, and sophisticated breeding programs
have produced a plant that dominates the world's cut flower market;
the annual crop is calculated in tons. Roses have also made a
tremendous contribution to the perfume industry.

Roses boast an ancient lineage, and they are intricately entwined in
our history and culture. As a motif, the rose has been and stil is
depicted in many national emblems. It has been adopted by countless
political factions, and even by businesses and several international
events. It is no wonder so many of the beautiful rose varietals are
greatly appreciated and cultivated by hobby gardeners around the
world.


Of course, it's impossible to put everything about rose into just one
article. But you can't deny that you've just added to your
understanding about rose, and that's time well spent.

Presented by Anthony Finney - Master Gardener


Everything you need and want to know about gardening.