ROSES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 732, 3 August 1929, Page 28

ROSES

Their Origin It would be a waste oi time to try j and discover who was the first enthusiast to bring the rose Into prominence, for the record of this pioneer's efforts is lost in the obscurity of time. In the Old Testament the flower is ! often mentioned, although the rose of i Jericho and Sharon are neither roses j in the modern sense. There are reasons to believe that in the wonderful gardens of Babylon, which are supposed to have existed 3,000 years before the Christian era, the rose was given a place of honour among the plants cultivated. Persia, Syria and Palestine all j possessed a form of rose which grew as wild flowers, and so it is easily seen that the rose has ruled “Queen of Blowers” for 25 centuries. The Greek poetess. Sappho, sent forth the edict that The rose the Queen of flowers shall be,” about 600 B.C. Since those ancient times nations have risen and fallen, kings and princes have come and gone, and the rose still holds its exalted position, with none to challenge her supremacy. Symbolic Uses The ancient Greeks, who were great lovers of beauty, used the rose largely 1 as a symbol. At fetes and public rejoicings, the youths and maidens wore flowers of this kind as tokens of youth, while their admiration of this flower caused the people to dedicate the rose to their gods as an emblem of beauty. The white rose has long been considered sacred to silence, and over what company it was suspended no secrets were revealed. No matter how trivial or how important the trust beneath the flower, it was never betrayed, for around it was written the sentence:— “He who doth secrets reveal. Beneath my roof shall never live.” The Romans At the period at which the Roman Empire was at the height of its glory, roses seem to have exercised an almost mesmeric influence on the people. The nobility, not contented with decorating their homes and persons with garlands of these flowers, bought loads of rose petals to serve as couches. The beds and floors of their chambers were strewn with the petals and blossoms were put into their wine. It is said that Nero spent equal to £30,000 on the roses used at a single feast. After the fall of the Roman Empire the rose, as a garden favourite, sunk almost into oblivion for some centuries.

England's Emblem The civil war between the House of York and Lancaster, known as the War of the Roses, brought the plant again into prominence. It is history that in these battles the Duke of Lancaster had as a badge a red rose, while the Duke of York chose a white rose.

Later, when the two houses were united in one, the rose formed the royal emblem of England in 1486, when the heiress of the House of York married Henry VII., the heir to the house of Lancaster. After these struggles were over the rose again tank into obscurity until the 17th century, when John Gerard devoted three chapters to it, giving illustrations of 18 different kinds. The opinion held by this old botanist on the charms of the rose may be gath-

The flower girl's prayer to buy roues and pinks, Held out in the smoke, like stars by day.”

ered from his passage: “The rose doth deserve the chiefest and most principal place amonl all flowers whatsoever, being not only esteemed for its beauty, virtues and fragrance and odoriferous smell, but also because it is the honour and ornament of our English scepter.” Nineteenth Century Prominence In the nineteenth century roses received their gTeat success, largely through the influence of the Empress Josephine, who openly declared her love for the flowers and extensively cultivated them in her gardens at Maimaison, growing and importing every known variety. Such royal patronage soon broughc the rose into true prominence and yearly the demand has grown until they are world popular and grown in every garden, both large and small. “The flower girl’s prayer to buy roses and pinks, Held out in the smoke, like stars by day.” —Browning.