History of roses
From the earliest times throughout the history of civilization, people from around the world held the rose close to their hearts. The earliest recognized gardening was the planting of roses along the most traveled route of early nomadic humans.. According to the fossil evidence the rose is 35 million years old.
Roses in Ancient Historic period.
The Romans outdid the Greeks when Nero, the hedonistic emperor, first century AD, dumped tons of petals on his dinner guests. Cleopatra had her living quarters filled with petals of roses so that when Marc Antony met her, he would long remember her for such richness and be reminded of her every time he smelt a rose. Her scheme worked for him. Such is the power of roses. In ancient Confucian and Buddhist religious documents we find references to the rose not only in Christian literature.
The Romans cultivated this great beauty and named it Rosa Gallica. Newly married couple couples were often crowned with roses. Roman high society women used petals much like currency believing that they could banish wrinkles if used in poultices. Rose petals were often dropped in wine, it was thought the essence of rose would stave of drunkenness. Victorious armies would return to be showered with rose petals from the civilians that crowded the balconies above streets.
Roses in Medival Period.
The first known paintings of a rose are actually frescoes. The earliest example was discovered in Crete around 1600 B.C. The apothecary rose, R. Gallica Officinalis, first recorded in the 13th century was the foundation of the large industry near the city of Provins, France. Turned into jellies, powder and oils. this rose was believed to cure multitude of illnesses.
Apothecary rose
War of Roses
The war started when the noble of York house against HenryVI of Lancaster who was a feeble ruler. Edward IV, of the York, replace Henry as a King. Later Henry again became a king, but lost his crown once more to Edward after a battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. The Yorkist held power untill Richard III lost his throne to the Lancastrian Henry Tudor. He was married into the House of York.
the war of roses was a civil war in England that lasted from 1455-1487. The House adopted a white rose (R. Alba), the House of Lancaster decided to take a red rose (R. Gallica). The winner of this war was Tudor Henry VII, merged his Lancastrian with the red rose of his York bride and thus created the Tudor rose, the rose of England.
White rose (R. Alba)
Tudor rose, the rose of England
Roses in Modern Period
The era of modern roses was established with the introduction of the first hybrid tea rose, "La France" by the French breeder, Guillot in 1867. This variety was considered unique for a number of important horticultural reasons:
1. Hybrid tea rose posses the general habit of a hybrid perpetual rose
2. The elegant shaped buds of hybrid tea rose.
3. Free flowering character of a tea rose
By the late 20th century, more than 10 000 hybrid tea rose were bred with great success .
Hybrid tea rose
Hybrid perpetual rose
Some Legends on Roses.
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, is said to have created the rose from her tears and blood of her lover Adonis. The Romans, turning Aphrodite into their Venus, also adopted the rose: it became the symbol of love and beauty. Cupid, offering a rose when trying to bribe the God of Silence to hush Venus's amours escapades, made the flower into a symbol of secrecy:
Roman dining room ceiling was decorated with roses, reminding guest to keep secret what had been said during dinner. Sub Rosa, under the rose, up to this day means "confidentially".
Aphrodite: Greek Goddess of Love
Greek God of Silence.
In Ancient Greek mythology, when VenusA' son Cupid was stung by a bee he accidentally shot arrows into rose garden. It was believed that to be sting of the arrows that caused the rose to grow thorns. when Venus walked through the garden and pricked her foot on a thorn, it was the droplet of her blood which turned the roses red.
Legend has it that the Roman Empire there was an incredibly beautiful maiden names Rhodanthe. Her beauty drew many suitors who pursued her relentlessly. exausted by their pursuit, Rhodanthe was forced to take refuge in the temple of Diana. Unfortunately, Diana was of a jealous nature and when the suitor broke down her temple gate to get near the beloved Rhodanthe, she became furious. Enraged, Diana turned Rhodanthe into a rose and her suitor into thorns.
In Arabic legend, all roses were white until one night when the nightingale met a beautiful white rose and fell in love. At this stage nightingales were not known for their melodious song they merely croaked and chirped like any other bird. But now the nightingale's love was so intense that he was inspired to sing for the first time. eventually his love was such he pressed himself to the flower and thorns pierced his heart, colouring the red rose forever.
Nightingale
No comments:
Post a Comment