William Wordsworth wrote a lovely poem about daffodils; songs have been sung about daisies (Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do!); and I distinctly remember singing a ‘round’ celebrating lilies-of-the-valley (White coral bells) as a Girl Guide (Scout) ,but it is the rose that has inspired lovers, poets and war-mongerers most!
Myriads of books have been written on the culture of roses, with reams of information on varieties, diseases, pruning and propagation, but today I’m interested in the almost mystical history of the rose beginning with the fact that wild roses have only been found to grow naturally in the Northern Hemisphere, originating in Central Asia.
In ancient China the rose was so admired that one Emperor had to order the plowing under of some rose gardens to free up land for the growing of food and this contrasts sharply with my own father’s decision to not grow roses until he no longer needed as much garden to feed his family.
Most of the ancient civilizations cultivated roses – Greeks, Romans, Egyptian – all the biggies – and they used them for similar purposes – confetti for celebrations, perfume and medicinal purposes. Even in my own early medical background I remember being prescribed ‘Glycerin and Rose Water’ for a skin irritation on my hands, caused by a ‘nervous disposition’. It soothed my dry skin and made my hands smell nice, but the condition persisted until adulthood…
Throughout history Royalty and roses seem to go hand-in-hand, with the War of the Roses in fifteenth century England symbolizing the struggle for control of the country between the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster. Eventually the rose became the symbol for all England and was the source of the cheer ‘Hip, Hip, Hooray’ in honor of the rose hips. (I just made that up…)
Most modern cultivated roses can trace their lineage back to introductions from China in the eighteenth century, and here is where rose history goes crazy; I won’t attempt to clarify it here. With so many types of roses on the market the best advice I can give is to make note of the variety purchased and put the information in a very safe place, for whenever someone has a problem, and I ask what kind of rose it is, I mostly get a blank stare.
Can you imagine what life would be like without roses? No Rose Bowl parade, no Run for the Roses, no Rose-colored spectacles, no Yellow Rose of Texas, no Roses are Red poetry! What would Napoleon’s wife, the Empress Josephine have grown in her gardens at Chateau de Malmaison? What flower would Shakespeare have celebrated in Romeo and Juliet with his observation ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ and how would Henry V111 have described his 5th wife, Katherine Howard, if not to call her his ‘Rose without a Thorn’?
Can you imagine a Valentine’s Day without roses? How about a very special anniversary – or the birth of a first child – or the need to apologize for a monumental gaffe? That’s right – a bunch of snapdragons doesn’t quite make it!
In conclusion I have one more small factoid:
This concerns the phrase ‘ sub rosa’ which means to keep a confidence; literally it means ‘under the rose’ and comes from an old custom of hanging a rose from the ceiling to remind the revelers at the party to not repeat anything heard under the influence of wine. Good advice!
