The Great History of Roses

The Greeks, however consented to the rose as a supplement to the progress of their culture. When a secret meeting was held, the Greeks rose to the ceilings of rooms to decorate. This indicates that the discussed everything was confidential, which is the origin of the phrase sub rosa.

In the fifteenth century England, roses were chosen to represent the two rival royal factions: the white rose of the House of York and the red rose of the House of Lancaster. The heraldic Tudor Rose emerged as the emblem of royalty. More recently, roses used as motives for the aspirations of political parties and national sports teams to promote.

Evolution of the Rose

In the history of civilization, there is no other flower so immortalized and integrated into daily life as a rose. From poetry to music, from festivals to wars, Mother's Day on Valentine's Day and the birth to death, the rose has held a unique role. There are more than 4000 roses in this monograph, and they are witnesses enough to convince even the ultimate skeptic that roses are a rich tapestry of evolution that stretches way back in time to have. How the genus Rosa, managed and continues to evolve into one of the world's favorite flower gardening is an interesting puzzle. To fully enjoy the development of roses to this day is a brief exploration of the early history of the roses for 1800 is needed.

Roses in Antiquity

Fossil remains found in a shale in Colorado indicates that rose an estimated 40 million years ago in North America. Other important fossil findings through the northern hemisphere have confirmed the existence of very old roses grow as far north as Alaska and Norway and in southern Mexico. No Wild Roses found to grow under the equator, but roses bloom in the southern hemisphere due to the conscious intervention of civilization.

Where or when the genus Rosa was born is not known, despite the wealth of fossil studies. In theory, the beginning of the Wild Roses probably cultivated for the hips, which has some nutritional value, like their close relatives, cherries, plums and apples. Most of these early species roses, five-petalled, pink or white with some yellow from China. As civilizations developed trade, accidental crossing of species that started early in the evolutionary process as they were grown side by side.

Mention of roses often appeared in the written records of early civilizations, such as the Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. In 500 BC, Confucius wrote about growing roses in the Rose Garden of the Imperial Chinese emperor, who also had an extensive library of books on roses. It is these writings that we have an image of the rose distribution and production to find out.

The oldest rose Rosa Gallica we can identify today, very fragrant flowers of deep pink indicates Crimson, followed by red brick, sub-spherical or turbine hops. The exact geographic origin of R. gallica is not known, but there are references to it by the Persians in the twelfth century BC, they considered it a strong symbol of love and commitment. The next identifiable Rose was very fragrant R. damasccena, which appeared in descriptive texts around 900 BC. In 50 BC a North African variant called R. damascena semperflorens, the'Autumn Damask. Captured by the Romans for its ability to bloom in two cycles instead of giving. Traced back to the fifth century BC, is believed to have originated from a cross between R. and T. gallica moschata (the musk rose). Until the discovery and importation of Chinese roses from the East in the late eighteenth century, R damascena semperflorens was the only repeat bloomers known that the western world.

A rose of great historical importance is the Alba Rose, 'White Rose of York, the emblem of the great house of York in the fifteenth century Wars of the Roses. R. alba is probably much older, dating from as early as the second century after Christ.

In early European times, the evolution of the rose had reached a clearly defined, simple pedigree, who had five distinctive Old Garden Rose classiciations: Gallica, Alba, Damask, Centifolia and Moss.

Roses in the New World

Of the 200 species in the wild Roses worlkdwide know, about 35 are considered native to the United State, which rose an American as apple pie. The first American species mentioned in European texts was R. virginiana; other remarkable species R. Carolina, the "Pasture Rose, R. setigera, the "Praire Rose, R. California, woodsii R and R. palustris, the 'Swamp Rose'. Several of these are named after their natural habitat selected. Captain John Smith wrote about the Indians of the James River Valley, planted Wild Roses to decorate their village environment. In 1621, Edward Winslow, one of the founders of the Plymouth Colony, planted many fragrant white, red and Damask Roses.

Modern Roses

In 1867, French breeder Guillot introduced a medium pink variety called 'La France'. This variety was considered unique in the sense that the general habit of Perpetual Hygrid (Mme Victor Verdier, its seed parent) and the elegantly shaped buttons and free flowering nature of a Tea Rose (Mme Bravy, the pollen parent) possessed. The recognition that 'La France' a new group show was delayed for nearly thirty years of acrimonious debate in the popular gardening magazine of the time. Gardener's Chronicle. Still, the first Hybrid Tea was born! Although technical difficulties prevented the direct simulation of the work of Guillot, practical experience in the next twenty years, finally solved the problems and the rapid expansion of the Hybrid Tea class with different colors and leaves. Hybrid Tea, now known as Large-flowered roses, Hybrid Perpetuals soon replaced in popularity in gardens throughout Europe and America. Planned breeding now has more than 10,000 hybrid tea with a wide range of colors and mixtures, and even stripes to show!