History

The earliest recorded history of the rose was found in fossils dating back to 35 million years.  A highly adaptable plant, the rose grows in virtually all regions of Canada, can be found from Alaska to California in the United States, parts of Mexico, China, northern Africa and a number of other countries.  It has been used to symbolize love, beauty, war, myths, paintings, literature, etc.  Cultivation of the rose dates back some 5,000 years, most probably in China.  The Romans also grew this magnificent flower extensively in the Middle East for use in perfume, medicine, and celebrations.  Emperors of the times would fill their swimming baths and fountains with rose-water and sit on carpets of rose petals for their feasts and orgies.

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite named the rose, but Chloris the goddess of flowers created it from the lifeless body of a beautiful nymph she found in the forest.  To make amends Chloris enlisted the help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who gave this nymph-flower beauty, then called upon Dionysus, the god of wine, who added nectar giving her a sweet scent.  In turn the three Graces gave her charm, brightness and joy.  Then Zephyr, the West Wind, blew away the clouds so that Apollo, the sun god could shine and make the flower bloom.  Thus, this beautiful nymph-flower was finally transformed into the queen of all flowers, the rose.

Thousands of years later, frescoes found in Crete and dating to 1700 BC illustrate depictions of simple pink blooms.  Discoveries in ancient Egypt showed that wreaths containing roses were found in the tomb of Hawara (170 AD).  This is the oldest preserved record of a rose species which is still living today.

Later in the fifteenth century, the rose was used as a symbol of courage and honor in the fight for England.  The white rose symbolized York while the red rose represented Lancaster in the conflict known as the "War of the Roses".  In contrast, the Royals of the seventeenth century considered roses and rose-water as legal tender and were even used as barter for payment.  Josephine (Napoleon's wife) planted an extensive collection of roses at the Chateau de Malmaison estate close to Paris in the 1800s.  Pierre Joseph Redoute, a renouned botanical illustrator, used this garden to complete his beautiful watercolor collection of "Les Roses".

In the late eighteenth century, cultivated roses were introduced to Europe from China and many of the modern roses can be linked to this ancestry.  These introductions bloomed repeatedly which was of great interest to hybridizers because they could be included with native species for hardiness and a long bloom period.  Immediate and long range efforts by plant breeders can be seen in our gardens to this day.

Breeders have more recently hybridized roses for flower size, shape, color and perfume but paid little heed to disease resistance and hardiness.  These hybrids require many fungal and pesticide sprays to keep them healthy and in time the demand for these plants seem to wane.  However, with the lifestyles of today's gardeners, the withdrawal in some countries of most chemical sprays for roses and the current green movement, there seemed to be an increasing demand for shrub and Old Garden Roses.  Some of these roses require little or no attention but offer excellent floral characteristics, disease resistance and winter-hardiness.

The Canadian breeders of winter-hardy and disease resistant Explorer and Parkland roses seem to be aware of these demands many years ago.  Although these programs have been closed or have been severely curtailed, Northern Hybrid Roses continues the work of these breeders.

A more detailed history of the rose if covered by Krussmann (1981) and Fortin (1991).

Fungal diseases

Hybrid teas and floribundas and other roses are susceptibile to blackspot (Diplocarpon rosae Wolf.) or mildew [Sphaerotheca pannosa (Wallr. Ex. Fr.) Lev.], and require substantial spraying to keep these diseases in check throughout the growing season (Arnold et al. 2005).  Further, these roses do not endure the harsh winters of northern USA, parts of Europe and Canada and must be protected with styrofoam cones, leaves, mounded soil and in some cases thermal blankets.  Unprotected plants may not survive winter temperatures of -15^o to - 30^oF (-25^o to - 35^o C) and must then be replaced in the spring at an ever increasing cost.  Many gardeners are discouraged from growing "the queen of flowers" because of the replacement cost and the many fungal sprays that have to be applied.

Black Spot		Powdery Mildew

Winter-hardy roses

Within the last 35 to 40 years, the research of Dr. Felicitas Svejda, Dr. Ian Ogilvie, Dr. Henry Marshall, Dr. Campbell Davidson and Lynn Collicut has produced the winter-hardy Explorer and Parkland series which will endure temperatures of -30^o F (-35^o C) with only snow as winter protection.  A listing and description is given by Richer et. al., (1996).  These roses are mostly of the large-to-small bush or patio type.  'William Baffin' (a climber) and 'William Booth' (a bush) require no sprays for the two primary fungal diseases but most of the others still require some maintenance spraying.  Flower form, color range and greater disease resistance still need to be enhanced in most of the hardies; this work is currently being researched by Northern Hybrid Roses (NHR).  At any rate, the work of Svejda et al.  has truly laid the foundation for the future development of winter-hardy, tea, floribunda and mini roses able to withstand our harsh climate without winter protection and also be disease resistant.  Interestingly, no truly winter-hardy miniature roses exist on the market at this time; however, NHR has developed a single hardy disease resistant mini which will serve as a parent in future crossings.  A thorough review and update of winter-hardy rose breeding in Canada is given in articles written by Arnold and Arnold (2003, 2006 and 2007) and Ogilvie and Arnold (1991, 1992 and 1995).

References