Roses and Mother's Day

The history of roses and Mother's day, and tips from Katherine O'Brien on growning roses.

Waterwise Rose & Perennial Garden
Item # 99508 		Waterwise Rose & Perennial Garden

each $155.35
  • Topic: Roses
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: rose, shrubs, Shrubs
  • Date: May 2004

© All articles are copyrighted by High Country Gardens. Republication is prohibited without Permission.

Stroll through the nursery these days and be met with that unmistakable scent of roses—all in time for Mother’s Day. We’ve otten in over 3,500 roses in 135 different varieties. And just in time to say, “Thanks, Mom.”

Our roses are handpicked and chosen for their good performance in orthern New Mexico, which means cold-hardiness and the ability to survive drying winds. Our nursery manager, Katherine O’Brien says any have their own root so they will come back. “Most of our roses are ever-blooming and many are fragrant,” she said. A pretty combination she suggests is growing roses with clematis. A climbing rose will reach ten feet high and fifteen feet wide. Clematis can grow right on top of the roses, adding flowers to make a magnificent bouquet.”

History of the Rose

Fossil records date roses back 35 million years. The cultivation of roses began some 5,000 years ago in China. Today there are over 0,000 varieties. Cleopatra once received her beloved Marc Antony n a room literally knee-deep in rose petals. During the Roman Period, roses were used for medicinal purposes, as a source of perfume, and the petals were used as confetti at celebrations. The Roman nobility also established large public rose gardens during the seventeenth century, roses were in such high demand that royalty considered them as legal tender. It wasn’t until the late eighteenth century that cultivated roses were introduced into Europe, and most modern-day roses can be traced back to this ancestry.

Roses are divided into two groups, “old roses,” or those cultivated in Europe before 1800; and “modern roses,” which were cultivated in England and France after 1800. Four species of roses are native to the United States.

Probably no flower has more notoriety than the rose. According to one source, there are about 4,000 songs dedicated to the rose and sampling includes: Red Roses for a Blue Lady, My Wild Irish Rose, Everything’s Comin’ Up Roses, Yellow Rose of Texas, Days of Wine and Roses, I Didn’t Promise You a Rose Garden, and When She Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Red, Red Rose.

The Story of Mother’s Day

The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations began with spring elebrations in ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. Then during the 1600s, England celebrated a day called “Mothering Sunday” on the 4th Sunday of Lent.

A special day for mothers was first suggested in the U.S. in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe, the woman who also wrote the words to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. She wanted the day dedicated to peace.

Then in 1907 Ana Jarvis began campaigning in Philadelphia to stablish a national Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May, on the anniversary of her mother’s death. She wrote ministers, businessman and politicians in her quest and by 1911 Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaim Mother’s Day as a national holiday.

Other countries celebrate Mother’s Day, but at different times throughout the year. But some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia and Belgium also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

Quick Guide to Planting Roses

With the short growing season of Northern New Mexico, Katherine O’Brien, our nursery manager prefers planting potted roses rather han bare-root roses. With a mature root system, container roses will be well established in the garden by the time the ground freezes in the fall. Planting roses is as easy as planting other container shrubs, but certain steps need to be followed for the best results.

Ideally, dig a deep hole and amend the soil heavily. O’Brien suggests using a mixture of 1/3 Soil Mender Compost to 2/3 soil. Then add SuperThrive, Superphosphate, Greensand and Yum Yum throughout the hole.

“You want to give new roses a rich environment so the roots will have something to eat,” she says.

Set the plant in the hole so the graft is just above the soil ine.

“Then you want to make a nice well around it,” says O’Brien, “so you can give a good quantity of water at a time.” After the bush is panted, mulch the area to protect from sun, heat, cold and to retain moisture.

After transplanting, apply a root stimulator and Liquid Sea Weed. Apply again in two weeks. Feed with Liquid Sea Weed the first growing season and in mid-August feed with Yum Yum Mix. The following spring feed with Mills Magic Rose Food.

Frequent watering is required. For sandy soil, every other day. heavier soils, twice a week.

O’Brien says the best time to plant roses is in May and June so they can establish their root systems before winter.