Mother's Day and Roses: They're Almost Synonymous

This year we've received 3,000 roses in 175 different varieties. All in time to say, "Thanks, Mom."

Waterwise Rose & Perennial Garden
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  • Topic: Roses
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: rose, roses, Mother's Day
  • Date: May 2006

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This year we’ve received 3,000 roses in 175 different varieties. All in time to say, “Thanks, Mom.” Our roses are chosen for our Northern New Mexico climate, which means cold-hardiness and the ability to survive drying winds.

For a pretty combination try growing roses with clematis. Climbing roses sometimes reach a height of ten feet and a width of fifteen feet. The clematis can grow right on top of the roses. The two blooming flowers together make a magnificent bouquet.

Roses Down Through History—* 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 subgenera:

  • Hulthemosa (formerly Simplicifoliae)—means containing a single leaf. Only one rose is in this group.
  • Hesperrhodos—means ‘western roses’ and includes only three roses of the Southwest United States
  • 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 Herstory 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’ (think girl and gal) meant both a rose and a beautiful damsel.

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 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.