Did you know?

Roses do not have thorns, they have prickles. A prickle is a growth on the outer side of the epidermis thorns are produced in the inner tissues of the stem.

Roses were already depicted in paintings, mosaics and even coins 2000 years ago; A Greek Drachma coin dating between 408 - 395 BC was found with the head of Apollo and a rose bloom on the reverse.

Fossil specimens of the rose have been found in Montana, Colorado and Oregon, USA, which prove that the rose existed 35 million years ago.

The oldest known painting of a rose possibly, Rosa gallica was found on a Minoan fresco on the walls of a small house in Knossos, Crete dating 1500 –1600 BC.

“LA FRANCE” was the first rose introduced as a Hybrid Tea in 1867.

All roses that existed prior to this time are known as old roses.

More than 6000 Hybrid Teas have been named and registered making this the largest rose group of all.

Miniature Roses have their origins in China - there are references to this widely cultivated type in a botanical register as early as 1823.

In 1823 French gardeners cultivated Miniatures in pots and they were marketed under "Pompon de Paris".

The oldest rose bush is thought to be the "1000 year old rose tree". This climber has reached over 20 metres high on the Hildesheim Catherdral in Germany.

The World’s Largest Rose Bush is a White Lady Banksia in Tombstone Arizona. The original root came from Scotland in 1885. From a single trunk it has spread over an arbor that covers over 2000 square meters. Each spring it is covered with millions of tiny white blooms.

The Asian Roses are the most important ancestors of the modern Garden roses and Climbing roses, because they were recurrent (bloomed more than once a year). The climbing varieties also originated from Asia. Interestingly the first yellow flowering roses were also Asian.

It takes between 10 000 and 15 000 hand picked rose blooms to make 11g of rose oil. The value of rose oil in weight is 5 times more than the same weight in gold.

Rose hips contain 400 % more vitamin C than oranges

To the Romans the rose also became the symbol of secrecy because the petals close over the stamens as the lips do over the mouth. If a rose was painted or sculpted on the ceiling of any room it always signified that discussions held there were confidential.

The ancient Romans loved roses above all other flowers and found many uses for them. These included rose pudding, rose jelly, rose honey and rose wine.They also dropped rose petals into their wine in the belief that this would prevent, or at least delay, drunkenness.

The governor of Sicily Cornelius (106 – 43 B.C.) was known for his luxurious living, he used to tour the country sitting on cushions that were stuffed with roses, wore wreaths of roses on his head and around his neck and had a fine-mesh linen bag filled with roses tied under his nose.

Prolong your roses vase life by diluting ½ lump of sugar and ½ asprin into 3 litres of luke warm water - the asprin will acidify the water to prevent proliferation of bacteria. The sugar will delay the aging of the cells by preserving the membranes.