History And Mythology Of Rose Plants
You might call roses the older siblings of humanity. Rose plant, in fact, seem to have existed even longer than humans, judging from the fossil evidence.
These flowers caught the imagination and the hearts of human beings almost from the beginning of human history, and the two have journeyed happily and meaningfully together throughout the centuries.
People learned rose care and cultivation very early, and not only found ways to improve and expand the rose’s repertoire, but also invested roses with special meanings of their own.
Actual cultivation of rose plants seems to have occurred first of all in China, perhaps five thousand or so years ago. But there are preserved wreaths that contain roses that have been found in some ancient Egyptian tombs and in ancient Crete as well.
As far back as 1700 BCE people created frescoes on their walls that included pictures of roses. Rose bushes became so prized in the Roman world that peasants were made to grow them instead of food crops, to satisfy the excessive use of roses by the aristocracy.
When roses were brought by knights back from the Crusades, collections of rose plants began to be established throughout Europe by royalty and aristocracy alike. For example, Napoleon’s Empress, Josephine, is known for creating a rose garden that occupied a large proportion of her estate west of Paris.
Roses often became a symbol of noble families, which is why, for example, the clash of two of those families in England became known as the War of the Roses.
Eventually, through cultivation and hybridization both in Asia and Europe, roses multiplied in number and beauty, so they could finally be enjoyed by common people as well as aristocrats.
Roses, like humans, have multiplied and spread throughout the whole world, and in many ways, they have walked hand-in-hand throughout history.
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