O, my Love is like a red,
red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my Love is like the melody,
That's sweetly played in tune.
--
Robert Burns
from "A Red, Red Rose"
Roses
are one of the most romantic flowers and the meanings associated
with roses reek of love and romance. Roses have received the
most attention from mankind and posses the richest languages
and meanings amongst flowers. Roses add a smile to most faces
and have served to denote love, passion, romance and in some
cases, even romantic devotion to God.
During
the Roman period, roses were grown extensively in the Middle
East. They were used as confetti at celebrations, for medicinal
purposes, and as a source of perfume. Roman nobility established
large public rose gardens in the south of Rome. During the
fifteenth century, the rose was used as a symbol for the factions
fighting to control England. The white rose symbolized York,
and the red rose symbolized Lancaster, as a result, the conflict
became known as the "War
of the Roses."
Roses
were said to be in such high demand during the seventeenth
century that royalty considered roses or rose water as legal
tender, and were often used as barter and for payments. Napoleon's
wife Josephine is credited with establishing an extensive
collection of roses at Chateau de Malmaison, an estate near
Paris in the 1800s. This garden became the setting for Pierre
Joseph Redoute's work as a botanical illustrator. In 1824,
he completed his watercolor collection "Les Rose,"
which is still considered one of the finest records of botanical
illustration.
It
wasn't until the late eighteenth century that cultivated roses
were introduced into Europe from China. Most modern-day roses
can be traced back to this ancestry. These introductions were
repeat bloomers, making them unusual and of great interest
to hybridizers, setting the stage for breeding work with native
roses to select for hardiness and a long bloom season.
Roses
are said to have bloomed only once a year until 1792, when
a new rose was introduced from China that was more prolific.
In China, rose oil was considered a precious fragrance for
emperors and the most wealthy. By the 19th century, roses
had been hybridized with other Chinese stock to produce the
bush rose known as the "hybrid tea". The hybrid
tea is among one of the most popular varieties of roses.
According
to an old English legend, a rose can help a young girl find
a husband. In Victorian times, husbands used small rose bouquets
called "tussie mussies" to communicate devotion,
trust, and love. Hence, the association of roses to romance
and the usage of red roses to convey love. An anniversary
"tussie mussie" today could contain the number of
red roses representing the months or years a couple has spent
sharing happy moments together (six roses for six months,
24 roses for 24 years, etc.)
