Roses have been recorded as far back as 600B.C. growing in the legendary hanging gardens of Babylon . It is most probable that at the same time, if not earlier, the Chinese were also cultivating roses. The attractions of roses to the early civilizations were many, not the least of which were the beauty of the flowers, their beguiling fragrances and the medicinal properties of the flowers, the fruits and the products developed from the parts.
The Romans were the first to start large-scale cultivation purely for their aesthetic values. They went so far as to construct hot houses to have blooming plants in winter, as well as importing early production from Carthage, in North Africa, in order to satisfy their demand for roses. They displayed the roses simply in vases, but also used them in elaborate garlands to festoon their villas. The petals were strewn over the floors, divans and beds, and even, as a precursor to a balloon drop, gathered by the thousands in nets and let cascade from the ceiling.
Early varieties tended to be simple, consisting of five petals, although there were a few semi-double varieties that found their way to Rome from Persia that had between ten and twenty petals. These early varieties, which tended to be what we now term as ”species” roses, generally bore the blooms in clusters of three, though sometimes in five and even seven, and were fragrant. Also known to the Greeks and Romans was the variety now classified as Rosa gallica and its mutations, namely the Province and the Centifolia roses. (continued below)
In the 17 th and 18 th centuries, as the study of botany became more prevalent, and a profound interest in plants developed, it was noticed that certain roses produced mutations or “sports” that were distinctly different from the species. Growers worked on developing new varieties from these sports, as well as crossing varieties to develop new roses. The new roses that were developed tended to be quite small, and carried most of the genetic make up of their forbears, particularly that of blooming only once a year. The science of breeding however had made great strides, and it was thus that the stage was set for some breath-taking developments at the beginning of the 19 th century.
Exploration by the Europeans had developed into worldwide commerce, as well as an almost insatiable desire for the new, the exotic and the rare, and the world of botany was no exception. Indeed, in many cases, botany was the pretext that many discoveries were made. The voyages of Captain Cook, who circumnavigated the earth were, in fact, underwritten by Sir Joseph Banks a pre-eminent botanist of the late 18 th , early 19 th centuries.
Introduced into France from China in 1798 was Rosa chinensis , from America R. noisettiana or “Noisette”, and from Bourbon Island in the Indian Ocean (now called Reunion ) came the Bourbon roses. Bourbon roses came about by a random cross between a Damask rose, that were being used as hedges on farmland, and one of the new R. chinensis . The roses that evolved are the epitome of what we now term “Old Roses”, and many are still grown to this day. Classics of Bourbon heritage are “Souvenir de la Malmaison”(1843), “ReineVictoria”(1872), “Madame Pierre Oger” (1878; a mutation of Queen Victoria), and “Baron Girod de L'Ain”(1897).
Also at the end of the eighteenth century, in England , Joseph Banks introduced the first “Tea Roses” from China , so called because of their delicate tea scent, and came in a wide variety of pink tones. In 1824 Banks introduced a rose that was to be the seminal turning point in rose-hybridization: Rosa x odorata, a yellow double-flowered rose that was unique in that it flowered several times in the year. This characteristic of repeat flowering, or “Remontant”, was a breakthrough in rose development, as up until then the most that a rose bush would flower was twice in a year, and not reliably at that.
The subsequent cross with Rosa gallica produced a new class of roses known as Hybrid Perpetuals, and with the introduction of “La Reine” in 1842 by a French breeder called Laffay, it can truly be said that modern breeding and propagation as we know it today started as a result of this cross. The results of this cross produced varieties that were very popular at the time, though they are quite scarce today. Possibly because the second and third flushes of flowers tended to be very weak, but more probably because twenty years after this breakthrough the creation of what we now know to be the first Hybrid Tea occurred.
A cross by Jean-Baptiste Guillot Jr. in 1867 at his nursery in Lyons , France , of a Tea Rose and a Hybrid Perpetual resulted in a rose that he called “La France ”. It must have made quite an impression when it was introduced. A large high-centered rose with over 60 petals of silvery pink, with the reverse in a bubblegum pink and extremely fragrant, and it had a vigorous habit with a free bloom throughout the year. “La France ” is considered to be the prototype of the Hybrid Tea rose class.
As well as the free and abundant bloom through the year, the high-centered look of the Hybrid Teas, and their large size made them popular. Initially, the palette was limited to pastel pinks, creams, whites and reds, but very quickly this was to change as well.
Another resident of Lyons, Joseph Pernet-Ducher, was captivated by the bold colors of the R. foetida and R.foetida bicolor and for many years tried to introduce it into the Hybrid Tea class. He eventually succeeded by employing a similar route to Guillot. Pernet-Ducher crossed an Hybrid Perpetual with R. foetida , and in 1898 he was able to present the fruits of his labor as a new rose “Soleil d'Or”, a large, double ,fragrant brilliant yellow rose saturated with the reds of a sunset. Pernet-Ducher bred many roses and initially they were classed as R. pernetiana but so fast was the absorption of these varieties into the Hybrid Tea class, that the term is now a footnote in history.
With the dawn of the twentieth century the development of rose breeding and rose hybridization, and parallel to the advances in every human endeavor that we have witnessed in the last hundred years, has been incredible. The evolution of the Hybrid Tea now meant that the breeder was endowed with a full palette of colors except the elusive blue, and all manner of shapes and sizes. Wonderful roses were developed in the 20 th century, mostly for the garden. The growth in the cut-flower industry that occurred after the WWII, meant that some breeders turned their attention to producing roses specifically for the florist. Characteristics such as straight stems, stems without thorns, desirable colors, and large head-size were incorporated into new varieties. Unfortunately this progress of development eliminated the scents and perfumes that had long been associated with roses.
In the last ten years the strides have been significant, and the use of bio-technology is evident even in the floral industry, where advances in tissue culture means that breeders can produce new varieties in a matter of a few years as opposed to decades. Consequently the breeders can zero in on the genes that provide the most desirable qualities, developing flowers with larger blooms, increased petal counts, better petal structure, longer vase life, straighter stems, less thorns, beautiful colors and tones. In the cut-flower industry we now have three to four hundred varieties especially developed for the florist.
Alas, the one ingredient that remains elusive is fragrance!
- - Michael McIndoe
Mayesh Wholesale Florists
Another strain of the r. gallica was Rosa damascena, the Damask Rose cultivated widely by the Arabs, but almost certainly known to the Romans. These roses consist of many petals, are extremely fragrant but are quite small compared to modern roses.
As with so many of the noble arts and the appreciation of aesthetic values, with the fall of Rome , the cultivation of roses lapsed into ignominy.
Amazingly, and as so often happened with many of the flowers we know today, roses continued to migrate across Europe . The spread of Christianity during the Dark and Middle Ages, promulgated by the monks, Abbots and Bishops, gave rise to the permanent establishment of places of worship. The hierarchy that arose built churches, with adjoining monasteries, and in order to be self sufficient, large gardens to assure supplies of produce, fruits, grains and plants that were valued for their medicinal properties. Amongst these treasured plants were rose bushes, for rose water, extracted from the petals, was highly prized for its astringent properties, and the hips valued for their nutritional and medicinal benefits.
As the Christian hierarchy evolved so too did the holy seats, shrines and places of worship. This growth combined with the social and environmental pressures of war, famine and disease led to the construction of walled monasteries situated in remote or protected locales. Within in the fortified walls were to be found the layers of dormitories, workshops, barns, libraries, and all that was necessary to remain self-sufficient. Finally, within these edifices of secular use were located the inner sanctums, the chapels, the shrines of worship, and these in turn were all situated around a cloistered garden of peace and tranquility, a virtual Eden: The Rosarium.
While it had been expedient to leave the vast majority of plants without the confines of the monastery walls, the religious orders brought into the heart of the sanctuaries their medicinal plants, and the most revered of these were the roses, which lent their name to these cloistered gardens. In turn, from these gardens evolved one of the most potent symbols of Catholicism; the Rosary. The early rosary beads were thought to be made from rose-hips, and then later carved from rosewood, and the practice of counting the Rosary believed to have arisen from the discipline of meditating in the Rosarium.
Towards the end of the Middle Ages, and with the dawn of the Renaissance in Europe , running parallel to the re-birth of the noble arts, was a renewed interest in the botanical field. Patrons of the arts valued beauty, and as well as adorning their palaces with works of art, also wanted to have beautiful gardens where they could retire for recreational purposes. Roses were a feature of these gardens, used not only for their beauty and fragrance but some also were used as quite effective and impenetrable hedging, particularly R. spinosissima or “Burnet” rose and the Damask rose. The colors of roses up until this time had been pinks, blushes, reds and whites but the introduction of a new variety from Persia gave rise to strains of yellow that were eagerly sought after. Rosa lutea was introduced into Europe at the end of the 16 th century, from which was derived the famous Rosa foetida, a bright yellow single rose, that in turn gave rise to the R.foetida bicolor aka “Capucine” or “Austrian Copper Briar”, a striking orange rose that is bright yellow on the reverse of the petals.
Also at about this time some natural crosses, that is hybrids created by nature without the interference of man, of species varieties came into existence in Northern Europe . Rosa alba , of which the variety “Nivea” is known as the Tudor Rose, and is the earliest recognized hybrid, originating from R. canina x R, gallica ; R. moschata or Musk Rose, with its peculiar heavy musk scent; and R. centifolia muscosa commonly called the Moss Rose because of its frilly moss-like calyces. This rose was significantly larger than other varieties to date, was endowed with many more petals and bore a fabulous perfume.
