Whether it be for their association with love, Valentine's Day, romance, war or politics, or for their storied linkage with beauty, roses have a long, complex, and colourful history. The rose is also the birth flower of June, so what better stem to celebrate as our flower of the month?
A brief history…
Let’s rewind to way back when… According to fossil evidence, the rose is a colossal 35 million years old – boasting 150 species found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including northern Africa – but it was only 5,000 years ago that the garden cultivation of such stems started.
![Floom Rose Vase](https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-vase_180607_102732.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=59beb128ae39349b2f7e62f18ffd5312 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-vase_180607_102732.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=f541e99fb7e221df512bfc772cf38fd0 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-vase_180607_102732.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=81450c8abccdcee3af8d01b6578c52b7 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-vase_180607_102732.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=334bd3796892dd4c503f6e28bf1a6883 400w)
During the Roman period, roses were grown extensively in the Middle East for medicinal purposes, as a source of perfume, and as confetti at special occasions. But it was in post-Roman times that the rose found its symbolic value in the 15th century. While the white rose was symbolic of York, the red was synonymous with the house of Lancaster – collectively they were associated with the “War of the Roses”.
![Floom Rose War Of The Roses](https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-war-of-the-roses.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=f3e637b9dbeb809e115603ef1f599302 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-war-of-the-roses.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=7b78c6e6833c9eedad944577e64aad93 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-war-of-the-roses.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=13cbc3a51e10d51bac4497202adf1a39 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-war-of-the-roses.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=15dacd6ef81f0cb4c1c15814cdc72d1f 400w)
By the 17th century roses – and rose water – were in high demand used widely as legal tender meaning you could trade your anti-inflammatory drops for food. It was not long before Napoleon's wife Josephine established an extensive collection of roses at Chateau de Malmaison, an estate seven miles west of Paris, that was painted by Pierre Joseph Redoute and is still considered one of the finest records of botanical illustration.
![Floom Rose Pierre Joseph Redoute](https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-pierre-joseph-redoute.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=52817d38e3c52fba0d240f525a7ebab6 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-pierre-joseph-redoute.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=433e182d4b2478d02a9c4d35f628d5bc 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-pierre-joseph-redoute.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=1dd107b05333e812d9a9db5da1a75ba0 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-pierre-joseph-redoute.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=2a6cc5c99b424cd7b909771f6b73cde3 400w)
Skip to the late 18th century. Cultivated roses were introduced into Europe from China, the ancestry from which most modern-roses stem and still a hot topic of interest for botanical boffins worldwide.
The English Garden Rose
The English Garden Rose sounds like it should be the most traditional and regal of all the roses, right? A bloom that harks back to the days when gardens were jolly well English. But, like most attempts at recreating some perceived golden age, the result is actually something that never really existed in the first place. You see, the English Garden Rose is actually a hybrid created by the famed rose breeder David Austin in the 1960s – a creation that aimed to fuse the old-fashioned shapes and fragrances of classic rose-types with a more diverse, and modern, range of colours. “A rose to rule them all!” we rejoice. Perhaps not, despite the ‘English’ moniker, the truth is it’s a breed made up of many varied tribes. The typical winter hardiness of the classic rose was also compromised in the process…
![Floom Rose White](https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-white.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=d9f450b9524b4b9f7b1c4fbfdba37dcf 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-white.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=509a217e9d00690886a472046d313809 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-white.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=774240a52a8e02d64cb4a7dd5d59dbed 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/floom-rose-white.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=741b01ddbdee038fc7108040f8e24ebf 400w)
The Perfect Rose
Speaking of compromises, according to many researchers roses have been losing their evocative scent purely down to the fact that many gardeners have favoured the appearance of the stems while breeding, rather than their aroma (in turn, losing a crucial enzyme RhNUDX1, that generates a chemical called monoterpene geraniol, one of the sweetest-smelling parts of rose oil). Is a rose even a rose, if it doesn’t smell like a rose…
![Red Rose Ls](https://floom.imgix.net/general/Red-Rose-ls_180606_151330.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=cac4aa0edbae56ee05ae758fa7592864 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/Red-Rose-ls_180606_151330.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=9815860bdc8adfb5a837c9ecd3248ada 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/Red-Rose-ls_180606_151330.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=1b506740376f50a7a1e6eb47fe6273d1 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/general/Red-Rose-ls_180606_151330.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=e6040f495038eb48d7d7dfc60407d997 400w)
Rose-Tinted
Roses are red, violets are blue… that’s not necessarily true. In fact, roses come in a vast array of vibrant hues from from classic red and pink, through to orange, yellow, lavender and white. While red are traditionally associated with love and romance, pink are widely regarded as a sign of gratitude and appreciation – perfect to send to a loved one or a friend – and white are tied to the themes of purity, innocence and sympathy. Meanwhile, roses of the yellow variety are a sign of both joy and friendship, and orange channel the welcome traits of enthusiasm, passion and desire. But when it comes to the rose that possesses the most power, look to those of the lavender variety – consider them your Cupid’s bow for they’re said to represent love at first sight.