Roses Around The Door

Nicola here. Today I’m looking at roses, literally out of my study window and also as a historical symbol. It’s that time of the year in the UK when the rose is in full bloom. It’s a sign of summer and the sight of roses growing around a cottage door (or window) is one of the quintessential images of an English country village.

The rose is also a symbol of a lot of other things: A red rose is for romance, of course, whilst innocence or purity is symbolized by the white rose, friendship with yellow roses and passion with orange.  I’m currently writing a book set in the 15^th century during the period known now as “The Wars of the Roses” although this term wasn’t coined until the 19^th century. The red and white roses were of course said to be the rival emblems of the aristocratic houses of York and Lancaster. In Shakespeare's play Henry VI rival nobles plucked them from bushes in the Temple Gardens, as depicted in this painting by Henry Payne. The different roses are the perfect embodiment of the antagonism each side had for the other, with the thorns and the red for the blood spilled in the conflict.

The rose is an ancient plant. Fossil evidence suggests they could be 35 million years old, and there are now 30 thousand different varieties. Before they were cultivated for commercial use, the wild rose was used for the production of rose oil and rosewater but the growth of roses commercially goes back to at least the Roman period when they were used to fill fountains and swimming baths and rose petal carpets were used to sit on at banquets. A sign of decadence and luxury, they were identified with the goddess of love.

In the Middle Ages the rose was the symbol of the Virgin Mary and in medieval art she is often depicted in a rose garden, a representation of the garden of Eden. Rose windows in cathedrals were an architectural way of displaying this religious iconography along with stone carvings of roses. In courtly love the rose came to represent the beloved, a symbol of earthly love and beauty. Elizabeth I rather cleverly married these two ideas together by taking the flower as her emblem to denote both her chastity and the idea of her being worthy of men's devotion.

The red rose of Lancaster is a Rosa Gallica, also known as Old Red Damask Rose and the Apothecary’s Rose. Even the names are atmospheric! It was possibly the first cultivated rose, originally growing wild in Central Asia. The red rose was adopted as a heraldic symbol by the Earl of Lancaster in the 13^th century and together with the White Rose of York formed the famous Tudor Rose symbol that was Henry VII’s classic piece of heraldic propaganda when the two houses were finally united in marriage in 1486. Similarly the white rose of York, known as Rose Alba or Rose Argent, which may have been introduced into Britain by the Romans, became a heraldic symbol in the 14^th century as the badge of Edmund of Langley, founder of the House of York.

The rise of a merchant class in the 16^th and 17^th centuries led to an expansion in the commercial
horticultural trade. This coincided with a time when roses started to be grown from seed rather than propagated from cuttings and hundreds of new rose cultivars were bred. In France the Empress Josephine fuelled the interest in the rose industry by collecting all available roses she could get her hands on and encouraging the breeding and hybridising of new ones at her chateau of Malmaison. The Chinese were also developing new types of roses at this time and around 1750 introduced four new cultivars that became the famous “China roses.”

I remember very vividly as a child the excitement when my grandfather, who was a keen gardener, grew a blue rose. Blue roses are in fact absent in nature and the “Blue Moon” variety he grew was a rather beautiful lilac colour and had only been invented in the 1960s in the year I was born. The blue rose has a special place in folklore; it’s said that the holder of the blue rose will have their wishes granted.

For centuries the rose has been renowned for its medicinal qualities. Rose petals have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory qualities and can help with the treatment of colds and flu. I remember as a child adoring the rosehip syrup I was given and being quite annoyed when my mother told me it was for babies and I was too old to drink it anymore! Rose hips can also be made into jelly, jam and tea, and rose water can be used to flavour sweets such as nougat and Turkish delight. Rose syrup is an ingredient in ice cream and who can forget the rose cream dark chocolates in the old-fashioned flower-flavoured assortments along with violet creams?

Then there is the rose perfume, which is another thing I associate with my grandparents, specifically the scents in my grandmother’s wardrobe, which were lavender and rose. Attar of roses - rose oil - is made by distilling the steam from the crushed petals of roses. For a while rose perfume had a reputation for being old-fashioned but apparently it is now making a comeback as a sexy and exotic fragrance!

Are you a fan of the scent of roses? Do you have a favourite colour of rose or a favourite type? Or are your summer garden flowers something quite different?

 

Comments

[Mary T]

What an interesting post. I LOVE roses. When I first got my house forty some years ago, the first thing I did in the yard was plant a bunch of rose bushes. I'm not a natural gardener, so I met with varying degrees of success. They were a lot of work, but they were worth it. Sadly, none of the originals still exist.

One of my favorites was a lavender color. It didn't produce a lot of blooms for me, but the ones that did come through were beautiful. If my memory is correct, I believe it had a lemony scent.

I loved having vases of fresh flowers in the house. Unfortunately, my cats did too, and they especially loved the roses. I would come home from work to find them scattered all through the house (smile).

Nowadays, I have just one rose bush by my front porch. It is called a "knockout" rose bush (deep pink). A very hardy variety that requires little care. Perfect for my old age.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Wonderful, Nicola! I love roses, especially fragrant ones. The high class versions with no scent are beautiful, but it's not the same. I never had rosehip syrup, and now I feel deprived!

I really like the Henry Payne painting with the aggressive rose plucking! *G*

[Janice M]

I love roses which can be tricky to grow in MN, but I preserved until I had a glorious garden of different colors. It was lovely until the deer, who I swear had been plotting this move all the time I was nursing these plants along, came in the night and ate every blossom and bud, nibbling the youngest shoots to the ground. I gave up on heirloom roses and grew wild ones instead. The deer moved on as well. Your rose pictures are lovely. Thank you for sharing them.

[Sue McCormick]

I adore roses, but have no luck in growing them.

In my childhood in St. Louis, a neighbor had a formal square rose garden which he tended faithfully. The neighbor children had the run of his yard, but we KNEW we were to respect his rose garden (and we all did). I don't believe that he grew any of the scented varieties. His garden was a joy to behold, and was in bloom from early summer until the fall frosts.

There is a display garden here in Columbia that has a rose garden similar to his, but much smaller. Whenever I see it, I'm transported back to those 1930 summers.

[Karen H.]

What a fascinating history about roses! I never knew they existed as far as 35 million years ago of there were thousands of varieties of roses. The one rose my father once grew was called Tropical which I was told bred for hot weather like Florida. Its color is not quite peach or orange but a bit of both. Its scent was heavenly as its color.

[Nicola Cornick]

Hi Mary! I love the idea of your cats waiting for you to go to work and then shredding rose petals all over the house. So funny! I just looked up the "knockout" rose - what a gorgeous rich colour!

[Nicola Cornick]

LOL, Mary Jo, on the aggressive rose plucking! Yes, they're taking out their feelings on a defenceless flower! I don't like scentless roses either; they may look beautiful but the perfume is part of the specialness of the rose.

[Nicola Cornick]

Oh no, Janice! I love deer but I would have been heartbroken if that had happened to me. You put in so much time and work!

[Nicola Cornick]

How absolutely lovely, Sue! I imagine the combination of the sights and scents of the rose can be very nostalgic. I love that the display gardens reminds you of such a special part of your childhood.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Karen, I'm so glad you liked it. I found it fascinating that wild roses grew so long ago and they found wreaths of them in Egyptian tombs thousands of years ago too. The tropical rose is gorgeous!

[Margot]

When I was 5 years old my mother let me have a special rose bush, to care for, which was a miniature and had tiny pink flowers, I have always loved roses in a garden - not so much as cut flowers because I hate to see them wilt in my home. I only have one rose bush now and that is a red rose similar to wild roses. That is where I find the Japanese beetles - but I can pick them off and once they are gone it does well.
If I had a cottage like house I would have climbing roses around the house. But I live in a ranch style house with a 2 acre yard that is mostly planted for wildlife and some well kept lawn to make the neighbors happy.

[BETH ELLIOTT]

A charming post, with some lovely pictures. What a variety of uses roses have, from decoration to food and as heraldic symbols and perfumes. My garden is full of rose bushes, each one planted for a family member. From the Turkish branch of my family, I've learned how to make rose petal jam, [must be pink, scented roses] and of course rose scented perfumes are always valued there.

[Andrea Penrose]

Wonderful and fascinating blog, Nicola! I'm partial to blue hues and would LOVE to see a blue rose—I don't remember ever seeing one here in New England.

I'm not a gardener, but do love walking past houses at this time of year and seeing their bushes begin to bloom. And the scent . . . such quintessential fragrance of summer.

[Lynda X]

I adore scented roses, but as I've grown older, all scented flowers give me a headache, so I've had to settle for those without scent. The deer have discovered my roses too, and the rabbits take many of my other flowers. The animals have excellent taste; anything that I truly love, they destroy. I try to keep up with the sprays to keep them away, but it does rain here, so. . . You can't beat knock-out roses for durability and length of bloom.
I love roses with daisies or with astilbe.

[Kareni]

Thank you for a wonderful post, Nicola! I'm now read to sample a rose cream dark chocolate. They sound delicious.

[Quantum]

I have lots of roses in my garden where they thrive on the heavy clay soil and especially like climbers growing over arches. Last year I saw the famous Kiftsgate rose in full bloom. An awesome sight though I now check the predicted size of new rose plants very carefully .... just in case!
http://www.kiftsgate.co.uk/kiftsgate-rose#kiftsgate-rose-1

I was also lucky enough to see the Mottisfont rose garden in full splendor. Every rose lover should make a pilgrimage there at least once. The stunning combination of scent and color was quite overwhelming. I took advantage of the seats to just sit and absorb the beauty!
https://www.google.com/search?q=mottisfont+rose+garden&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjs1-uMu9niAhVqTxUIHSKQD7EQsAR6BAgAEAE&biw=1198&bih=632

I am currently reading some of Philippa Gregory's Tudor novels and was interested to hear that your latest project is set a little earlier with the wars of the roses.Great way to flesh out the bare bones of early history lessons .... is it a time slip novel?

[Maryellen Webber]

What a wonderful post! I never heard of rosehip syrup either. I have a beautiful damask rose 🌹 that continues to thrive despite my neglect. I love the lavender and purplish blue roses too but you can't get the beautiful scent of a damask rose. I have been tempted to buy some rose scented perfume but don't want to be told I smell like an old lady ( despite my graying hair!). I would also love to live in a house with climbing roses covering it. My husband, on the other hand may not like it so much!!

[Nicola Cornick]

Margot, how lovely! What a beautiful idea to give a little child a miniature rose to care for. Whilst I do love a pretty bunch of roses I agree that seeing them in the wild is delightful.

[Nicola Cornick]

Beth, how interesting! Rose petal jam sounds wonderful, fragrant and delicate.

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you, Andrea, yes it is indeed such a scent that is evocative of summer. I think the blue rose was very fashionable in England when I was a child. I remember all the excitement about it! I haven't seen any for a while either.

[Nicola Cornick]

Oh Lynda! Those animals do have excellent taste if they love your flowers, but how frustrating! Next time I get some roses I will add daisies and astilbe to the bouquet. What a lovely contrast!

[Nicola Cornick]

I think they can be very luscious, Kareni, although probably best taken in small quantities. Enjoy!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you for the links, Quantum. The Kiftsgate Rose is glorious! Mottisfont Abbey generally and the rose garden in particular are now firmly on my "to visit" list.

Yes, my latest wip is a timeslip set in the 15th century and the present. It combines my lifelong obsession with Richard III with some history local to my area (Oxfordshire). I'm really enjoying it and hope people will like it too when it finally hits the bookshelves!

[Nicola Cornick]

Haha! I think rose scented perfume has changed since the days of its old lady reputation, Maryellen, so you could give it a try!

[Teresa Broderick]

I was never a lover of roses but I set a couple in my garden. Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to keep them alive for long. I've given up on them.
I have bad skin and use body washes from my local health shop. They had run out of my usual coconut one so I bought one with rose water. Oh my word! It's lovely and I'll be sticking with it.
Delrosa, there's a memory Nicola. I remember it well!

[Annette N]

I am a fan of roses. And I am also a fan of this post. You have shared knowledge with us which is always a gift. I am still trying to digest the fact that roses have been here for so very long.

I have a teeny tiny toy rose bush in a pot on my patio. The flowers are pink and I love them. The only thing I do not like is they have no rose scent - or any scent.

I have a green thumb with many plants and flowers. With roses, I have had ups and downs.

Finally, I want to thank you for sharing so much with us....especially the picture of the roses growing around the window....beautiful.

[Nicola Cornick]

I'm glad you remember Delrosa too, Teresa! And thank you for the recommendation of rosewater body wash. That sounds lovely!

[Nicola Cornick]

Thank you very much, Annette. I'm glad you enjoyed the post and the picture of my gorgeous climbing rose, which makes my bedroom look like something out of a fairy story!

[Linnea J Priest]

When I was a teacher at a boarding school in Switzerland, rosehip tea was a favorite! I make it here in the USA, too. I love rosehip jam, and our local market sells some from Germany, so I buy it. I like the plants, also, but the hybrids requite too much fussing. I prefer the old, grow-anywhere bushes and vines.

[Denise Morris]

Interesting post, thank you. Love roses but abhor gardening. During our courtship years (48 years ago there was such a thing as “courtship”) I would receive a red rose for every month we were together from Mr. M which was lovely, and now receive them for each anniversary. Longwood Gardens outside of Philadelphia has a beautiful rose arbor surrounding an outdoor amphitheater that is heavenly this time of year. And I once visited Powerscourt Gardens in Wicklow, Ireland that had a very large walled rose garden that was just amazing.

[Constance]

A great-uncle of mine visited Mount Vernon in the early 1900s and returned to North Carolina with a small rose bush he’d purchased as a souvenir, called, appropriately, Martha Washington. It was planted at his mother’s farm, where both my grandmother and my mother were born and raised, and thrived — needing to be dug up by a tractor every few years to keep it from covering the house, as if in a fairy tale. When my sister and I sadly sold the farm in the 1990s, I took several small cuttings of “the Martha”, as we always called it. My husband, he of the very green thumb, managed to nurture 2 of them into bushes, so now we are cutting them back every few years, too. It will bloom soon, for about 3 weeks, with small, palest pink flowers, and the richest damask scent, and then i will have to wait another year to know the favorite scent of my childhood again. Aren’t I lucky? Thank you for a lovely post, Nicola!

[Jeanette Dilts]

Roses! Two of your pictures reminded me of the stylized red and yellow rose pictures that hung on the walls of our parlor in the farmhouse where I grew up. I've had several roses over the years with varied success. I just bought two for the farm and have a spot in mind that "might" deter the deer. The two I bought are a Mr. Lincoln - clear red with a wonderful scent and one new to me called Love and Peace as I was not able to find the so very lovely Peace rose. The Tropicana someone mentioned above is also a favorite for the color especially - not quite apricot and not quite orange - so lovely. They were the color of the roses in my wedding bouquet many, many years ago. Thank you for such a lovely post.

[Nicola Cornick]

I really must try rosehip tea, it sounds delicious! Also rosehip jam. I'm going to seek it out. The old-fashioned plants must be very hardy and adaptable, I think. When you see them growing wild and realise how long they have been around for, it's quite something!

[Nicola Cornick]

Denise, that is such a beautiful romantic gesture from Mr M! I still love the idea - and the word - courtship and think it a pity it has gone out of fashion.

I love the sound of the walled rose garden at Powerscourt, and the idea of seeing a play or show in an outdoor amphitheatre surrounded by a rose arbour is gorgeous!

[Nicola Cornick]

Wow, Constance, that is some rose bush that flourished so happily at your great-uncle's house. I love that you still have offspring of "the Martha!" That's lovely.

[Nicola Cornick]

Jeanette, I'm so glad the rose post has resonated for so many people and reminded you of those pictures from your childhood. I haven't heard of the Mr Lincoln - I will look out for that one. I'm so grateful to everyone who has shared their memories and experiences of roses. It's been lovely!