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by Charlie Farricielli from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct 

THE ROSE IN HISTORY

As with most plants that have long been closely associated with the history of people, the rose has become deeply ingrained in our culture and beliefs. The Romans, who originally cultivated the rose as a medicinal plant, also used the blooms to enhance their festivities.

The Greeks, however, accepted the rose as a complement to the progress of their culture. Whenever a secret meeting was held, the Greeks used roses to decorate the ceilings of their conference rooms. This indicated that everything discussed was confidential, which is the origin of the phrase sub rosa.

In 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 have been used as motifs to further the aspirations of political parties and national sporting teams.

Evolution of the Rose

Throughout the history of civilization, no other flower has been so immortalized and integrated into daily life as the rose. From poetry to music, from festivities to wars, Mother’s Day to St Valentine’s Day, and birth to death, the rose has held a unique role.

There are over 4000 roses listed in this monograph, and they are testimony enough to convince even the ultimate skeptic that roses have a rich tapestry of evolution stretching way back in time. Just how the genus Rosa managed to, and continues to, evolve into one of the world’s favorite flowers is an interesting horticultural puzzle. To fully appreciate the development of roses up to the present day, a brief exploration of the early history of roses before 1800 is needed.

Roses in Antiquity

Fossil remains found on a slate deposit in Colorado indicates that roses estimated 40 million years ago in North America . Other important fossil findings through the Northern Hemisphere have confirmed the very ancient existence of roses growing as far north as Alaska and Norway and as far south as Mexico . No Wild Roses have been found to grow below the equator, although roses now thrive in the Southern Hemisphere thanks to the deliberate intervention of civilization.

Where or when the genus Rosa originated is unknown in spite of the wealth of fossil studies. In theory, the early Wild Roses were most likely cultivated for their hips, which have some nutritional properties, as were their close relatives, the cherries, plums and apples. Most of these early species roses were five-petalled, pink or white with some yellows from China . As civilizations developed trade, accidental crosses of there early species started the evolutionary process as they were grown along side each other.

Mention of roses appeared frequently in the written records of early civilizations, such as those of the Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. In 500 BC, Confucius wrote about the roses growing in the Imperial Rose Garden of the Chinese Emperor, Who also had an extensive library of books about roses. It is from such writings that we can glean a picture of rose distribution and cultivation.

The oldest rose we can identify today is Rosa gallica , which gives very fragrant flowers of deep pink to crimson followed by brick red, sub-globose or turbine hops. The exact geographical origin of R. gallica is unknown, but there are references to it by the Persians in the twelfth century BC; they regarded it as a strong symbol of love and commitment. The next identifiable rose was the very fragrant R. damasccena, which appeared in descriptive texts around 900 BC. In 50 BC a northern African variant called R. damascena semperflorens, the’Autumn Damask’. Captivated the Romans for its ability to give two bloom cycles instead of just one.

Traced back to the fifth century BC, it is believed to have resulted from a cross between R. gallica and T. moschata (the musk rose). Until the discovery and importation of China roses from the Orient in the late eighteenth century, R damascena semperflorens was the only repeat-bloomers known to the Western world.

Another rose of great historical importance was the Alba Rose, ‘White Rose of York’, the emblem of the great House of York during the fifteenth century Wars of the Roses. R. alba is probably a lot older, dating back to as early as the second century AD. In early European times, the evolution of the rose had reached a well-defined, simple family tree, which had five distinctive Old Garden Rose classiciations: Gallica, Alba, Damask, Centifolia and Moss.

Next Time Roses in the New World: You might want to try conveying your message of love by a beautiful, fragrant bouquet of roses. Watch for more tips from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct. More Links for Rose Farm > or Visit Here

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The Last Fifty Years

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The Last Fifty Years by Charlie Farricielli from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct 

The early 1950s was a decisive time in the history of the rose. Gardening for leisure, rather than for food, became increasingly popular, and this coincided with the release of a new rose variety called ‘Peace’. It is difficult to convey the impact this rose had on gardeners-simply put, everybody was growing it! ‘Peace’ almost single-handedly advanced the popularity of the rose out of all proportion to any other garden plant.

In the last decade there have been many new schools of thought on the role of the rose in the garden. No longer are we subjected to endless formal flowerbeds solely devoted to this single genus. It is not that gardeners have lost their appreciation of these superb blooms, rather it is that they have discovered how wonderful roses can look when grown informally among other plants such as clematis, honeysuckles, delphiniums, lavender, spring bulbs and geraniums.

Although disease still rears its ugly head on certain occasion, the rose has become a much more adaptable plant; varieties are available that can be grown as shrubs, climbers, ground covers or in pots. Nowadays, the rose has a place in every garden, even the smallest back yard, and it is telling that the Patio Rose Sweet Dream is one of the best-selling roses today.

Next Time THE ROSE IN HISTORY : You might want to try conveying your message of love by a beautiful, fragrant bouquet of roses. Watch for more tips from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct. More Links for Rose Farm > or Visit Here

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East Meets West

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East Meets West by Charlie Farricielli from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct 

The introduction of roses from the Far East coincided rather neatly with the advent of modern breeding techniques. Although the sexual function of the flower, in particular the function of the anthers and stigma had been revealed in the seventeenth century, this discovery was not used in practical plant breeding for another two hundred years before this time, ‘primitive’ rose breeders would place two distinct varieties in pots together when both were in full bloom; they knew that there was a reasonable chance that the plants would cross-breed and produce seedlings with shared characteristics of the two parents.

In the early part of the nineteenth century, hybridists, primarily French amateurs, began a planned breeding program with very gratifying results. This was quickly followed up with some enthusiasm by rose-growing devotees all around the world. Soon, rose breeding without first planning the parentage became unthinkable.

The subsequent g=progeny produced were identified by groups usually names after their town or country of origin, the hybridist and, in some cases, a wealthy patron. Thus, collective terms such as Bourbons, Noisettes, Hybrid Perpetuals and Portlands came into existence with varying degrees of success. Eventually, the collective term Hybrid Teas was coined; 1867 is the date usually quoted when this modern group became a recognizable entity. Since that time, Hybrid Teas (also known as Large-flowered Roses), have progressed from strength to strength.

Next Time The Last Fifty Years : You might want to try conveying your message of love by a beautiful, fragrant bouquet of roses. Watch for more tips from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct. More Links for Rose Farm > or Visit Here

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THE ORIGINS OF CULTIVATED ROSES

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It has been estimated that 150 million 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 still is depicted in many national emblems. It has been adopted by countless political factions, and even by businesses and several international events.

THE ORIGINS OF CULTIVATED ROSES
Rose’s species have a natural distribution through out most parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Paleontologists inform us that they become established in the Tertiary Period, which began 70 million years ago. This means that the ancestors of the rose predate the evolution of humans

Europe and the Middle East - The Dawn of Rose Breeding

Well before the Christian Era, the transportation of useful plants had played an essential part in the expansion of civilizations. The sprawling Roman Empire together with the excursions of Alexander the Great in Asia introduced many species never seen before in the Middle East and Europe . The dog rose ( Rosa canina), for example, was long thought to be a native of Britain , but was in fact brought there by the Romans.

By about AD 1200 the first five groups of domesticated roses had already begun to evolve in cultivation: Albas, Centifolias, Damasks, Gallicas and Scots Roses.

The Far East - the Birthplace of the Modern Garden Rose

Although rose growing enjoured high popularity in the gardens of Europe for many hundreds of years, it was not until the end of the eighteenth century, with the discovery of R. chinensis in China , that a major step forward was achieved. The revolutionary characteristic of this rose is its ability to flower repeatedly from early summer to late autumn.

Some commentators have used the term ‘perpetual flowering’ but this can be misinterpreted and used too literally. ‘Parson’s Pink China’, ‘Slater’s Crimson China’’, Hume’s Blush Tea-scented China’ and Parks’ Yellow Tea-scented China’ – the first cultivated varieties – opened up a new vista of roses with a modern classical shape, a true crimson color with a very pale hint of the early yellows and a repeat –flowering performance. The Far East became the birthplace of the Modern Garden Rose, and the rest is history.

Next Time East Meets West: You might want to try conveying your message of love by a beautiful, fragrant bouquet of roses. Watch for more tips from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct. More Links for Rose Farm > or Visit Here

Keywords: flowers, Roses, flower delivery, send roses, send flowers, yellow roses

Roses boast an Ancient Lineage, by Charlie Farricielli from Rose Farm Buy Farm Fresh Grower Direct 

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