By Leslie Watkins

Of all the magnificent designs and decorations used by people to embellish their architecture, textiles, tables and walls, the rose motif is the most beloved. The Queen of Flowers has held us in her rapture for millennia. Rose fossils date back 35 million years. Ancient nomads traveled far and wide, bringing nutritious rose hips with them across Eurasia. Paintings and sculpture from the Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2160 B.C.) indicate that the Egyptians placed flowers in vases and bowls on banquet tables and used them in processions. Their tomb paintings and bas-reliefs feature roses, along with lotuses, buds and berries. Petrified rose garlands have been found in Egyptian tombs from as early as 2500 B.C. In ancient Rome, fragrant rose petals where strewn on the floors of banquet halls up to a foot in depth, and petals were released to “rain” from the ceilings.

The Chinese grew wild roses in their gardens 5,000 years ago and began cultivating roses over a thousand years ago. Ancient Chinese porcelain, paintings, pottery and lacquered furniture show how the characteristics of roses changed over time. The rose culture in China was the most advanced in the world until about three hundred years ago when the perpetually blooming rose of China, Rosa chinensis, traveled from China to Europe in the late eighteenth century.

The Rosa gallica was the emblem of the Medes and Persians in the 12th century B.C. Cultivated roses have roots in Turkey, Iraq and Persia from the 10th to the 17th century, particularly around Shiraz. They were used in perfume, as food flavoring and in medicinal preparations.

Today, the world’s oldest living rose bush is thought to be a thousand years old. It blooms on the wall of Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany.

Roses are used in oils, jellies, teas, scented waters and powders. Rose hips can contain more vitamin C than oranges and plenty of vitamin A. Rose hips are used to make teas loaded with antioxidants, flavonoids and phytochemicals. They are useful in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, inflammatory conditions, high cholesterol and hypertension. To prepare rose hip tea, pour a cup of boiling water over a teaspoon of dried rose hips and steep for about 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten with honey.

Not all roses are so “rosy.” The thuggish invasive the multiflora rose is found throughout New England in abandoned fields where it was originally planted to form a living cattle barrier. In autumn, birds eat the tiny hips and spread the seeds far and wide. The shrubs can grow large enough to require a tractor to pull them out of the ground, and their thorns can puncture a tractor tire. Patrol your property regularly for these prolific and undesirable beauties and pull them out while they are still small. They can also infect your garden plants with a nasty viral disease, rose rosette, which is spread by a mite and produces weird-looking bright red shoots. The infected plant and its roots must be removed and sent to the burn pile.

The rose is still the most-sold cut flower, and the busiest time for florists is Mother’s Day. Many of these cut roses come from South America, where there are few if any regulations on pesticides or health codes to protect the workers. The much better choice is to buy local.

Or you can grow a piece of this rich botanical legacy in your own garden. There are both high-maintenance and low-maintenance roses available online and at your local nursery. The legendary and gorgeous David Austin roses are grown in Texas for the U.S. market, and many require some degree of skill and dedication for successful growing here. But fear not. If a nice no-fuss, ever-blooming rose hedge is what you want, look for the newly released Top Gun rose.

May Garden Checklist
Clear away winter debris.
Repair or build raised beds.
Turn compost piles.
Add amendments to soil.
Have row covers ready.
Set up trellises and hoops.
Plant early seeds.
Deadhead spring bulbs.
Put up birdhouses.
Be aware of the last frost date: Memorial Day.

Illustration by Leslie Watkins © 2018