Roses Say Mother’s Day

We recently got a huge shipment of roses in, like thousands, and all are ready to plant or give as presents. To commemorate roses and Mother's day, following are a few tid-bits relating to both.

  • Topic: Roses
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: roses, shrubs, history, Shrubs
  • Date: May 2005

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We recently got a huge shipment of roses in, like thousands, and all are ready to plant or give as presents. To commemorate roses and Mother’s day, following are a few tid-bits relating to both.

Roses

  • Fossil records date roses back 20 million years.
  • The cultivation of roses began some 5,000 years ago in China.
  • There are over 30,000 varieties.
  • In 100 B.C. the demand for roses created an important floral industry.
  • The Romans used rose petals as confetti at celebrations.
  • During the 1600s, royalty considered roses as legal tender.
  • In the 1700s cultivated roses were introduced into Europe.
  • 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.

The accepted botanical order for the rose was devised in 1949 by Alfred Rehder, and since modified. Roses are grouped into four subgenra:

  • Hulthemosa (formerly Simplicifoliae)—means containing a single leaf. Only one rose is in this group.
  • Hesperrhodos—means ‘western roses’ and only three roses of the Southwest United States are in this group.
  • Platyrhodon—means ‘flaky roses’ because their bark peels away
  • Eurosa—means ‘eastern roses’ and this large group is found in wide areas of the northern hemisphere. This last group is divided into 10 sections, all pertaining to certain colors.

The Her-story of Mother’s Day

How is it that women through history have been so closely associated with the rose? In early Persia, the word ‘gul’ meant both a rose and a beautiful damsel. It’s probably where we got the word girl and gal from, too.

The earliest Mother’s Day celebrations began with spring celebrations 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 establish 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. By 1914 President Woodrow

Wilson officially proclaimed Mother’s Day as a national holiday.

[Main research source: “The Rose” by Peter Harkness, Firefly Books, 2003. We don’t carry this book in our bookstore.]