Did you know that:

• By about 1200 AD the first five groups of
  domesticated roses had already begun to evolve in cultivation: Albas,
  Centifolias, Damasks, Gallicas and Scots Roses.
  
  


• The first guide to roses was written around 300 BC by Theophrastus, a pupil of Plato and Aristotle. Pliny the Roman went
  into more detail 200 years later with the equivalent of the world’s
  first catalogue, which listed thirteen roses.
  
  


• It was in France, from about 1820, that the deliberate and planned hybridizing of new roses from pre-selected plants began, leading to strange new classes like Noisettes, Portlands and Bourbons.
  
  


• The Far East was the birthplace of the Modern Garden Rose at the end of the eighteenth century, with the discovery of R.
  chinensis in China. The revolutionary characteristic of this rose is
  its ability to flower repeatedly from early summer to late autumn. The
  crusaders returned to the west with rose plants, which were then
  cultivated by monks for their medicinal properties. Rose water
  was claimed to cure all kinds of ailments, such as trembling,
  constipation, drunkenness, skin and throat infections and insomnia.
  
  


• Until the early nineteenth century dried rose petals were believed to have mysterious powers. Napoleon gave his officers bags of rose petals to boil in white wine to cure lead poisoning from bullet wounds.
  
  


• A rose language was invented as a means of communication between lovers who were not allowed to express their feelings in the harems of the
  Middle East. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of the British
  ambassador in Constantinople in the mid-eighteenth century, described
  in her letters how a red rose bud stands for budding desire, while an
  open white rose asks "Will you love me?". An open red rose means "I’m
  full of love and desire", while an open yellow rose asks "Don’t you
  love me any more?".
  
  


• It has been estimated that 150 million rose plants are purchased by gardeners worldwide every year.
  
  


• The Wars of the Roses
  The Wars of the Roses
  were fought in Britain in the fifteenth century during the reign of
  Henry VI. These civil wars raged for thirty years, and both sides used
  the rose as a symbol. The Red Rose of Lancaster was ultimately
  victorious; the White Rose of York belonged to the vanquished.
  Shakespeare wrote about this bloody conflict in his epic three-part
  tragedy, Henry VI. (The Rose, by Madison Mallone, Andrews and McMeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, MO, pgs. 81-82).
  
  


• The Peace Rose
  During World War II, just
  before the Nazis stormed the airport in Lyons, France, a Frenchman
  smuggled a few plants of the new rose he had created onto one of the
  last planes out. It was cared for by an American until the war’s end.
  This luminous pale yellow rose with a tinge of pink was named “Peace”
  and became the symbol for the fall of Berlin and the end of the war.
  The famous “Peace” rose is now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. (The Rose, by Madison Mallone, Andrews and McMeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, MO, pgs. 82-83).
  
  


• Cave Paintings
  Perhaps the oldest painting in
  the world depicts a five-petaled pink rose. It resides in a cave on the
  island of Crete and dates to about 1450 B.C. (The Rose, by Madison Mallone, Andrews and McMeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, MO, pg. 99)
  
  


• Largest
  The world’s largest rose-bush is
  located in Tombstone, Arizona. It is almost two hundred years old and
  is adorned with more than two hundred thousand white blooms when in
  full bloom. Its trunk is nearly six feet in diameter, and its branches
  form a canopy large enough to shelter a crowd of 150 people. (The Rose, by Madison Mallone, Andrews and McMeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, MO, pgs. 115-116).
  
  


• Oldest
  The oldest living rose bush, which is
  now the size of tree, grows against a cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany.
  Documentation proves it has been there since A.D. 815. During World War
  II, the bush caught fire from Allied bombs dropped nearby, but the root
  system was undamaged and the bush still flourishes today. (The Rose, by Madison Mallone, Andrews and McMeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, MO, pgs. 35-36).
  


• 
  
  


• Roses and Romance
  Cleopatra (69 - 30 B.C.)
  celebrated the rose as an aphrodisiac; when she held a banquet in honor
  of her lover, Mark Anthony, in 42 B.C., the floor was carpeted with two
  feet of roses petals. Her bed was also covered with fresh roses daily,
  as were the beds of newlyweds in Roman times and rose wreaths were
  often hung by lovers on the doors of their beloved’s boudoirs. (The Rose, by Madison Mallone, Andrews and McMeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, MO, pgs. 51-52).
  
  


• First Greenhouses
  Determined to find a way to
  get roses to bloom all year round, the Romans piped hot water into
  special growing rooms, creating the worlds first greenhouses. (The Rose, by Madison Mallone, Andrews and McMeel, a Universal Press Syndicate Company, Kansas City, MO, pgs. 56-57).
  

Wear 3 dark red, pale red and white roses for 3 days,3 nights and 3 hours - placed above the heart in such a way that no one can see it.

Say 3 “Our Father”, “Hail Marys”, and make the sign of the holy cross 3 times.

Immerse
roses for 3 days, 3 nights and 3 hours in a bottle of wine and serve it
to the objects of your love without him/her knowing what is in the wine, where upon he/she will love you with all his heart and soul and remain faithful to you all his/her life. *

Papa Meilland, Mister Lincoln and Oklahoma are all bred from the same cross namely between Chrysler Imperial and Charles Mallerin.

To the Romans the rose also became the symbol of secrecy because
the petals close over the stamens as the lips do over the mouth. If a
rose was painted or sculpted on the ceiling of any room it always
signified that discussions held there were confidential

It takes between 10 000 and 15 000 hand picked rose blooms to make 11g of rose oil. The value of rose oil in weight is 5 times more than the same weight in gold.

Rose hips contain 400 % more vitamin C than oranges!

CAUTION do not EAT hips or blooms if pesticides are used.