Song of the Rose

If Zeus chose us a King of the flowers in his mirth,

He would call to the rose, and would royally crown it;

For the rose, ho, the rose! is the grace of the earth,

Is the light of the plants that are growing upon it!

For the rose, ho, the rose! is the eye of the flowers,

Is the blush of the meadows that feel themselves fair,

Is the lightning of beauty that strikes through the bowers

On pale lovers that sit in the glow unaware.

Ho, the rose breathes of love! ho, the rose lifts the cup

To the red lips of Cypris invoked for a guest!

Ho, the rose having curled its sweet leaves for the world

Takes delight in the motion its petals keep up,

As they laugh to the wind as it laughs from the west.

-attributed to Sappho, translated by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in "Greek Poets in English Verse," ed. William Hyde Appleton, The Riverside Press, 1893.

Sappho may have been among the first to bespeak the royalty of the rose, but the world's respect for this simple flower has yet to fade. The history of the rose is extensive. It's been on this planet longer than we homo sapiens. In recent history, the British War of the Roses established the throne of Henry VII, merging the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York into the Tudor rose. The Peace rose, currently one of the most popular varieties, was originally smuggled into the United States in 1945 from occupied France.

The power of this plant to entrance is phenomenal. The first gardener extraordinaire of the rose was Josephine de Beauharnais, wife to Napoleon Bonaparte. Until she established her gardens at Malmaison in the early 1800s, the botanist Linnaeus had only identified 20 varieties. She made it her mission to collect every known rose in the world, culminating in more than 250 at Malmaison. Needless to say, she had the aid of her wandering and pillaging husband to get these plants across war-torn borders. Empress Josephine hired a watercolorist, Pierre Joseph Redoute, to preserve her efforts for prosperity in the volume "Les Roses."

"A rose is a rose is a rose," according to Gertrude Stein, and yet there are thousands of varieties. How does one choose an appropriate companion to one's garden? Color, habit and fragrance are good a starting point. The early roses of the Romans ranged from white to pink to rose (i.e. magenta). A true deep red did not come to Europe until the importation of the China rose. A strong yellow was not developed until around 1900. Habits: rambling to contained bushes; upright long-temmed tea roses to floriferous branches of small and medium blossoms, blooming once or perpetually. The fragrance can range from none to heady damask to tart lemon to sweet apple. Living in a cold climate, our choices are slightly reduced, as it's preferable to buy a very hardy variety than to be coddling and nursing a delicate southerner. Nearly all mail-order catalogs and nurseries have at least a few varieties to select. Visits to local rose gardens in bloom can help narrow down a few favorites. Or maybe a clipping from a neighbor's vigorous, unnamed and ancient bush will get you started with your first rose.

"As for the roses, you could not help feeling they understood that roses are the only flowers that impress people at garden parties; the only flowers that everyone is certain of knowing. Hundreds, yes, literally hundreds, had come out in a single night; the green bushes bowed down as though they had been visited by archangels." -Katherine Mansfield, "The Garden Party"

When adding royalty to your garden, consider perhaps Souvenir de Malmaison, a heavy-headed, sweet-smelling pink bourbon rose, or her pure white sport, Kronprinzessin Viktoria. Or simply invite L'Imperatrice Josephine herself, a vivid Gallican pink. There are so many Duchesses, Commandantes and Reines that you can re-create European history down a garden path. There's even a Parkdirektor Riggers to keep everyone in line.

For the pacifist, there is the aforementioned Peace or Pink Peace and Chicago Peace, all hybrid tea roses, in various glowingly combined pink, cream and pale yellows with slight fragrance. The floribunda Hiroshima's Children varies similar colors according to the season.

In name only, the Lenten Rose (Helleborus x hybridus) has just been nominated "Perennial of the Year." This graceful, shy flower stays in the shady areas of the garden, blooming February-March. The Hellebore is a pricey investment but so ultimately hardy and happy to naturalize in difficult woodsy areas, it's worth the initial ouch in the pocket. Not much blooms in the very late winter in our climate; witch hazel and skunk cabbage are the only others that come to mind. In memory of Pope John Paul II, this is a fine plant to tuck in a corner, to view from a cozy window in the cold early spring mornings.

www.perennials.com/poty.html

www.rose.org

www.uncommonrose.com

www.oldrosenursery.com

www.sexherald.com/aphrodisiacs-improve-libido/thorny_to_horny-_all_about_roses.html

www.faqs.org/faqs/gardens/roses-faq/part4

Miss Mara Vaughn takes gardening questions and comments at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it