THE ROSE: FROM
ANCIENT CHINA TO YOUR BACKYARD
The ubiquity of roses through time
The rose has captured humankind’s imagination for thousands
of years, and has taken a place of honor in gardens around
the world. Roses were first cultivated in the garden in China,
but their use was soon worldwide. The Roman and Greek cultures
both placed religious, medical and mythical significance on
what the poet Sappho called “the Queen of Flowers”.
The Roman passion for roses knew no bounds; the scented blooms
found their way into food, medicine, and perfume. The returning
hero found himself showered with thousands of petals, and
an ostentatious host would carpet his floors with them so
the scent would rise with every footstep. The Romans even
invented the greenhouse for the very purpose of growing roses.
The rose goes underground
The rose slipped from favor with the demise of the empire,
kept alive only in the monastery medic garden. It wasn’t
until the Crusades when returning knights brought back new
species roses that the rose began its return to prominence
in the garden.
Hybridization causes a resurgence in popularity
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries saw the first work
in hybridizing roses in the West (the Chinese had been at
it for two thousand years already). Two hundred new strains
of rose were developed between 1580 and 1710. Then in 1781
the Dutch East India Company brought back a China rose named
‘Old Blush’ and the race was on. Over the next
decade the Dutch and British East India Companies brought
back dozens of new China roses, leading to the development
of Teas, Bourbons, and Portlands. These were crossed into
the existing pool of species and Old Garden roses, leading
to an explosion of both rose hybrids and interest in them.
Over the years even more rose types were concocted with each
new cross providing the stepping stone for the next. Species
roses from all over the world became available to the breeders
and there were soon new crosses. But in 1867, the first Hybrid
Tea rose was introduced starting the Modern Rose era. All
roses after that point are Modern roses, all from before are
Old Garden roses, but for our purposes we will be breaking
them down into groups by usage and habit.
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