Rose, Rose

The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. It is a common error to refer to roses having thorns. Thorns are modified branches or stems, whereas these sharp protrusions on a rose are modified epidermal tissues (prickles). Most are native to Asia, with smaller numbers of species native to Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Natives, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance.

The plant's fleshy edible fruit is called a rose hip. Rose plants range in size from puny, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach 20 metres in height. Species from different parts of the world easily hybridize, which has given rise to the many types of garden roses.

Rose water, made from the rose oil, is widely used in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. The French are known for their rose syrup, most commonly made from an extract of rose petals. In the United States, this French rose syrup is used to make rose scones.

They are also pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup. Rose hips are also used to produce Rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products and some makeup products.

The vast majority of roses are deciduous but a few (particularly in Southeast Asia) are evergreen or nearly so.

Rose species that produce open-faced flowers are attractive to pollinating bees and other insects, thus more apt to produce hips. Many of the domestic cultivars are so tightly petalled that they do not provide access for pollination. The hips of most species are red, but a few (e.g.

The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as thrushes and waxwings, which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds.thumb|125px|Rose pricklesWhile the sharp objects along a rose stem are commonly called "thorns", they are actually prickles outgrowths of the epidermis (the outer layer of tissue of the stem). True thorns, as produced by e.g.

Fungal diseases in the Rose are best solved by a preventative fungicidal spray program rather than by trying to cure an infection after it emerges on the plant. After the disease is visible, its spread can be minimized through pruning and the use of fungicides, although the actual infection cannot be reversed. Certain rose varieties are considerably less susceptible than others to fungal diseases.

In addition to their great economic importance as a florists crop, roses are also of great value to the perfume industry.

In the early 19th century the Empress Josephine of France patronized the development of rose breeding at her gardens at Malmaison. As long ago as 1840 a collection numbering over one thousand different cultivars, varieties and species was possible when a rosarium was planted by Loddiges nursery for Abney Park Cemetery, an early Victorian garden cemetery and arboretum in England.

In general, Old Garden Roses of European or Mediterranean origin are once-blooming woody shrubs, with notably fragrant, double-flowered blooms primarily in shades of white, pink and red. The shrubs' foliage tends to be highly disease-resistant, and they generally bloom only on two-year-old canes.

Moss roses with centifolia background are once-flowering; some moss roses exhibit repeat-blooming, indicative of Autumn Damask parentage. Example: 'Common Moss' (centifolia-moss), 'Alfred de Dalmas' (Autumn Damask moss).

Joseph Pemberton, a British rosarian, in the first decades of the 20th century, based upon 'Aglaia', a 1896 cross by Peter Lambert. A seedling of this rose, 'Trier', is considered to the be foundation of the class. The genetics of the class are somewhat obscure, as some of the parents are unknown.

Most of these roses are likely Old Garden Rose cultivars that have otherwise dropped out of cultivation, or sports thereof. They are "mystery roses" because their "proper" historical names have been lost. Tradition dictates that they are named after the owner of the garden where they were rediscovered.

In the Old Garden Roses, this is often simply the natural growth habit of many cultivars and varieties; in many Modern roses, however, climbing roses are the results of spontaneous mutations. For example, 'Climbing Peace' is designated as a "Climbing Hybrid Tea," for it is genetically identical to the normal "shrub" form of the 'Peace' hybrid tea rose, except that its canes are long and flexible, i.e. "climbing." Most Climbing roses grow anywhere from 8'20' in height and exhibit repeat-bloom. Rambler roses, although technically a separate class, are often lumped together with climbing roses. They also exhibit long, flexible canes, but are distinguished from true climbers in two ways: A larger overall size (20'30' tall is common), and a once-blooming habit. Both climbing roses and rambling roses are not true vines such as ivy, clematis or wisteria; they lack the ability to cling to supports on their own, and must be manually trained and tied over structures such as arbors and pergolas. Examples: 'Blaze' (repeat-blooming climber), 'American Pillar' (once-blooming rambler).

Development started in the 1960s by David Austin of Shropshire, England, who wanted to rekindle interest in Old Garden Roses by hybridizing them with modern hybrid teas and floribundas. The idea was to create a new group of roses that featured blooms with old-fashioned shapes and fragrances, evocative of classic gallica , alba and "damask" roses, but with modern repeat-blooming characteristics and the larger modern color range as well. Austin mostly succeeded in his mission; his tribe of "English" roses, now numbering hundreds of varieties, has been warmly embraced by the gardening public and are widely available to consumers.

Their modern hybrid descendants exhibit similar habits: Unlike Old Garden Roses, modern hybrids bloom continuously (until stopped by frost) on any new canes produced during the growing season. They therefore require pruning away of any spent flowering stem, in order to divert the plant's energy into producing new growth and thence new flowers.

The purpose of deadheading is to encourage the plant to focus its energy and resources on forming new offshoots and blooms, rather than in fruit production. Deadheading may also be performed, if spent flowers are unsightly, for aesthetic purposes. Roses are particularly responsive to deadheading. Deadheading should be done by taking the stem down to the first 5-leaflet leaf, not just the base of the flower.

The phrase sub rosa , or "under the rose", means to keep a secret derived from this ancient Roman practice.

The red rose was eventually adopted as a symbol of the blood of the Christian martyrs. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary.

The Luxembourg born Belgian artist Pierre-Joseph Redout produced some of the most detailed paintings of roses.

The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses (including Isis and Aphrodite), and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. 'Rose' means pink or red in a variety of languages (such as Romance languages, Greek, and Polish).

It is also the provincial flower of Yorkshire and Lancashire in England (the white rose and red rose respectively), of Alberta (the wild rose) in Canada, and of Islamabad Capital Territory in Pakistan. It is the state flower of four US states: Iowa and North Dakota ( R. arkansana ), Georgia ( R. laevigata ), and New York ( Rosa generally). Portland, Oregon counts "City of Roses" among its nicknames, and holds an annual Rose Festival.

This originated when the red rose was used as a badge by the marchers in the May 1968 street protests in Paris.

The red rose is thus widely accepted as an unofficial symbol of Catalonia.

The technique originated in Persia (the word Rose itself is from Persian) then spread through Arabia and India, but nowadays about 70% to 80% of production is in the Rose Valley near Kazanluk in Bulgaria, with some production in Qamsar in Iran and Germany. The Kaaba in Mecca is annually washed by the Iranian rose water from Qamsar. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses ( Rosa damascena 'Trigintipetala') are used. In the French rose oil industry Rosa centifolia is used. The oil, pale yellow or yellow-grey in color, is sometimes called 'Rose Absolute' oil to distinguish it from diluted versions. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about two thousand flowers are required to produce one gram of oil.

Source: Wikipedia > Rose