Home > Archives > The Language of Roses

all roses

modern roses
English Roses, Hybrid Teas & Floribundas, Shrub Roses

roses by use
 

climbing roses
Almost Climbers, Mannerly Climbers, Rapacious Monsters

old garden roses
Once Blooming, Reblooming

sale promos

miniatures

other garden stuff
Accessories and Misc., Companion Plants

training & culture
Growing Good Roses, Pruning Your Roses, Training Tips & Techniques

The Language of Roses: romance, secrecy, and artistry
Excerpted from an article by Judy Lowe, staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

One of the most romantic images of Valentine's Day is a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses.

But romance and roses haven't always been linked. In Roman times, if a rose was hung from the ceiling during a political meeting, it meant everything that happened was secret and not to be disclosed. And that's where our term "sub rosa" (literally "beneath the rose") comes from.

Although archaeology tells us that roses were grown at least 30,000 years ago, the first artistic representation of a rose dates to Crete in 2100 BC, and the first literary reference to roses was by Homer in the Iliad about the 8th century BC.

The diversity of today's modern roses owes much to Empress Josephine, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was so fascinated by the diversity of the rose family in various parts of the world that she had them collected and planted artistically at her French estate, Malmaison. In contrast to European roses, which produced flowers only once a year - in early summer - many of the roses in Josephine's collection of 250 different varieties bloomed over and over again. This sparked a new interest in rose breeding that continues to this day.

It was the Victorians who elevated the rose to its current romantic status. Their "language of flowers" decreed that a red rose meant "I love you," a yellow one, joy and gladness.

In contrast to ancient days, when roses were reserved for the elite, today they're for everyone - always topping polls of the most popular flower and the national floral symbol of the US.

For the same price that a florist will charge to deliver a dozen roses on Valentine's Day, a home gardener can purchase several rosebushes, which will produce armloads of beautiful blooms from late spring or early summer until fall.

(The complete article can be found at http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/02/14/fp18s1-csm.shtml)

Return to Newsletter Archives