as before stated, the rose was the theme of the earliest poets of antiquity; and it was doubtless one of the first plants selected to adorn the gardens which were laid out around the new habitations constructed upon the exchange of the wandering for a civilized mode of life.
the most ancient authors upon husbandry, whose works are extant, have all treated of the culture of roses: theophrastus among the greeks; and among the romans, varro, columella, palladius, and pliny. to pliny are we specially indebted for information on this subject, as the entire fourth chapter of the twentieth book of his natural history is devoted to roses; and they are also occasionally mentioned in other parts of the work. but after all the information thus obtained, much yet remains to be desired; and although we find in other ancient authors some curious facts bearing upon other points in the history of the rose, they are mostly so general in their character as to give us very little insight into the actual culture of the rose at those periods.
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the profuseness with which they were used among the greeks, the romans, the egyptians, and other ancient nations in their religious solemnities, their public ceremonies, and even in the ordinary customs of private life, would lead us to suppose, and with some degree of correctness, that roses were very abundantly cultivated by them all; and we are inclined to think that their cultivation was then far more general than at the present time, although the art of producing them was in its infancy. however surprising in other respects may have been the progress of the culture of roses within forty years, particularly in france, holland, and belgium, there can be little doubt that, although the romans were acquainted with a much smaller number of varieties than the moderns, yet flowers of those varieties were far more abundant than the aggregate quantity of flowers of all the varieties of roses cultivated at the present day. it cannot be positively asserted that the remontant roses of the present time were unknown at rome, since the gardeners of that city practiced sowing the seeds of the rose, by which mode many of the most remarkable varieties of that class have been obtained by modern cultivators. the romans, however, preferred to propagate by cuttings, which produced flowering plants much sooner than those from the seed.
but, though the romans may have had roses of the same species with some of those which we now cultivate, it is scarcely probable that these species could have continued until this period, and escaped the devastation attendant on the revolutions of empire, or the more desolating invasions of the huns and goths. thus it is, that those roses of p?stum, to which allusion is so frequently made by ancient writers, and which, according to virgil and pliny, bloomed semi-annually, and were common in the gardens of that city, are not now to be found. jussieu and loudresse, two french gentlemen, successively visited[pg 71] italy with the express object of finding this twice-bearing rose in p?stum or its environs, yet, notwithstanding their carefully prosecuted researches, they could find no traces of it whatever.
although the number of varieties known to the romans was very limited, they had discovered a method of making the blooming season continue many months. according to pliny, the roses of carthage, in spain, came forward early and bloomed in winter; those of campania bloomed next in order; then those of malta; and lastly those of p?stum, which flowered in the spring and autumn. it was probably the blooming of this last species which the gardeners of rome discovered (in seneca’s time) the secret of retarding by a certain process, or of hastening by means of their warm green-houses.
in the last part of this work, we have cited many passages from ancient authors, which show to what an enormous extent the use of roses was carried by the romans on certain occasions. it is difficult to credit, at this day, the relation of nero’s extravagance (which is, however, attested by suetonius), when it is told that in one fête alone he expended in roses only, more than four millions of sesterces, or one hundred thousand dollars. it would be no easy matter, even at the present period of abundant cultivation of roses, to obtain from all the nurseries of england, france, and america together, roses sufficient to amount to so large a sum.
the romans derived the use of this flower from the greeks. in greece, and throughout the east, roses were cultivated, not only for the various purposes we have mentioned, but also for the extraction of their perfumes. among the many plans which they adopted for preserving the flower was that of cutting off the top of a reed, splitting it down a short distance, and enclosing in it a number of rose-buds, which, being bound around with papyrus, prevented their fragrance from escaping. the[pg 72] greeks also deemed it a great addition to the fragrance of the rose to plant garlic near its roots. the island of rhodes, which has successively borne many names, was particularly indebted to the culture of roses for that which it bears at this day. it was the isle of roses, the greek for rose being ροδον,—rodon.
medals of rhodes, whose reverse impressions present a rose in bloom on one side, and the sunflower on the other, are to be found even now in cabinets of curiosities.
extravagance in roses, among the romans, kept pace with the increase of their power, until they at length desired them at all seasons. at first they procured their winter’s supply from egypt, but subsequently attained themselves such skill in their culture as to produce them in abundance, even at the coldest season of the year; and, according to seneca, by means of green-houses, heated by pipes filled with hot water. during the reign of domitian, the forcing of roses was carried to such perfection, and flowers produced in winter in so great abundance, that those brought from egypt, as before mentioned, excited only the contempt of the citizens of the world’s metropolis.
this fact, as also handed down to us by the epigram of martial, is of great assistance in estimating the importance of rose-culture at that period, and in showing how the art of cultivating this plant had spread, and how it was already far advanced among the ancient romans and their contemporaries.
if the egyptians cultivated roses for transportation to rome during the winter, they must have had very extensive plantations for the purpose. the exportation could not have been of loose flowers, for they would have been withered long before the termination of the voyage; neither could it have been of rooted plants in a dormant state, as nurserymen now send them to every part of the world, because the romans had at that time no means of[pg 73] causing them to vegetate and bloom in the winter. on the contrary, the cultivators at alexandria and memphis must, of necessity, have sent them away in the vases and boxes in which they had planted them with that object, and when they were just beginning to break from the bud, in order that they might arrive at rome at the moment they commenced expanding.
at that remote period, when navigation was far behind its present state of perfection, the voyage from the mouth of the nile to the coast of italy occupied more than twenty days. when this long voyage is considered, and also the quantity of roses required by the romans to enwreath their crowns and garlands, to cover their tables and couches, and the pavements of their festive halls, and to surround the urns which contained the ashes of their dead, it is evident that the egyptians, who traded in roses, in order to satisfy the prodigality of the romans, would be compelled to keep in readiness a certain number of vessels to be laden with boxes or vases of rose-plants, so prepared as not to bloom before their delivery at rome. the cost of roses thus delivered in rome must have been immense, but we do not find a single passage in any of the ancient authors which can give any light on this point; they only tell us that nothing for the gratification of luxury was considered too costly by the wealthy roman citizens. nor do they afford more positive information as to the species of rose cultivated on the borders of the nile, to gratify this taste of the romans. according to delile, there were found in egypt, at the time of the french expedition into that country, only the white rose and the centifolia, or hundred-leaved—two species not very susceptible of either a forcing or retarding culture. the only rose known at that time, which bloomed in the winter, was the rose of p?stum, referred to by virgil, as “biferique rosaria p?sti,” and which was probably the same as our monthly damask rose,[pg 74] and which produced in egypt and rome flowers at all seasons, as the damask does now with us, under a proper mode of culture.
the extent to which the culture and commerce of roses was carried among the romans is shown by the fact that, although they had confounded the tree and its flowers under one name—that of rosa,—they nevertheless gave particular appellations to the gardens or ground planted with rose-bushes. they were termed a rosarium, or a rosetum. ovid says, “quot am?na rosaria flores.” the dealer in roses was also designated by the distinctive appellation of rosarius.
in the latter part of the decline of the roman empire, when paganism still existed to a great degree, there arose a people who formed, as it were, the connecting link between the ancient and modern world—a people who acknowledged but one supreme ruler, and his sole vicegerent, mahomet; a people whose origin was among the wildest tribes of ishmael’s descendants, who possessed in a great degree the luxuries of civilized life, and among whom the arts, sciences, and agriculture, were very flourishing for many ages. among the moors of spain, the culture of the rose was pursued with as much scientific and practical method as at the present day, but with somewhat less happy results. when in paris, some years since, we became acquainted with m. hardy, the chief director of the luxembourg gardens, and who is well known to rose growers, by the many beautiful varieties which he has originated. his interest in this subject was very great, and in 1828, he published in the journal des jardins some interesting observations which he had extracted from a manuscript of m. de la neuville. the latter having been employed as military superintendent in spain during the war of 1823, translated from a spanish version some parts of an arabian work upon culture[pg 75] in general, in which that of the rose was mentioned, with some important particulars. it stated that the moors, who formerly conquered spain, attached the highest value to this most beautiful of their flowers, and cultivated it with as much care as we do ourselves. “according to abu-el-ja?r,” says the translation, “there are roses of many colors—carnation white, fallow or yellow, lapis-lazuli, or sky-blue. some are of this last color on the outside, and yellow within. in the east they are acquainted with roses which are variegated with yellow and sky-blue, the inside of the corolla being of the one color, and the outside the other. the yellow-heart is very common in tripoli and syria, and the blue-heart is found on the coast of alexandria.” to us, at the present day, this relation may with reason seem incredible, since amid the numerous varieties now existing, and the skill of their cultivators, we have in no instance been able to obtain a blue rose. abu-el-ja?r may have ventured to state it as a fact without proper authority, for, according to m. de la neuville, abu-abdallah-ebu-el-fazel, another nearly contemporaneous author, enumerated a variety of roses without mentioning the blue. “there are,” says this last author, “four varieties of roses: the first is named the double white; it has an exquisite odor, and its cup unites more than a hundred petals: the second is the yellow, which is of a golden color, and bright as the jonquil; then the purple; and lastly the flesh-colored, which is the most common of them all.” farther on the same author adds: “the number of species is supposed to be large: the mountain or wild; the double, which is variegated with red and white shades; and the chinese. the double, however, is the most beautiful, and is composed of forty to fifty petals.”
the moors multiplied roses by all the various methods which are employed at this day: by suckers from the root, by cuttings, by budding, and by grafting. the[pg 76] pruning-knife was also freely used, in order to form regular heads.
there is a farther translation of de la neuville from a spanish version of the “book of agriculture,” written by ebu-alwan, who lived in the twelfth century, and who, in addition to his own experience, quoted largely from some chaldaic and arabic writers. he states that the moors practiced two methods of sowing the seeds of the rose. the first was in earthen pans—a mode adapted to delicate plants; they were watered immediately after being sown, and afterward twice a week until autumn, when such care became unnecessary. the other method was sowing broadcast as grain is sown, then covering the seed-beds an inch deep with carefully sifted manure or fine mould, and giving them the requisite watering. the plants from these seed-beds did not produce flowers until the third year after their being thus prepared, and until they had been transplanted into squares or borders; such is still the case with nearly all our summer roses, the only kind the moors appear to have possessed. they also understood the art of forcing roses. “if you wish,” says haj, another author, “the rose tree to bloom in autumn, you must choose one that has been accustomed to periodical waterings; you must deprive it of water entirely during the heat of summer until august, and then give it an abundance of moisture; this will hasten its growth, and cause the expansion of its flowers in great profusion, without impairing its ability to bloom the ensuing spring, as usual.” “or else,” adds the same author, “in the month of october, burn the old branches to the level of the earth, moisten the soil for eight consecutive days, and then suspend the watering; alternate these periods of moisture and drought as many as five times, and probably in about sixty days, or before the end of autumn, the roots will have thrown out vigorous branches, which will in due time be loaded with flowers, without destroying the[pg 77] ability of the plant to bloom again the following spring.” the climate in which the moors lived—that of cordova, grenada, and seville, where the winter is very much like our weather in mid-autumn—was very favorable to the cultivation of the rose. in this country the same results could doubtless be obtained in the carolinas, and the experiment would be well worth trying, even in the latitude of new york. it would be no small triumph to obtain an autumnal bloom of the many beautiful varieties of french, moss, or provence roses. haj has also given the method of keeping the rose in bud, in order to prolong its period of blooming. his process, however, is of so uncertain a character, as scarcely to merit an insertion here. the manuscript of de la neuville also contains particular directions for propagating roses, and for planting hedges of the eglantine, to protect the vineyards and gardens, and at the same time to serve as stocks for grafting. nothing is omitted in the arabian treatise which pertains to the management of this shrub; the manner of cultivating, weeding, transplanting, watering, etc., are all particularly explained. among a variety of curious matters, it contains the process by which, for the purpose of embellishing their gardens, they produced the appearance of trees whose tops are loaded with roses. a hollow pipe, four feet long, or more, if the top was to be large, was obtained, of a well-proportioned diameter, set upright, to resemble the trunk of a tree, and filled with earth or sand in a suitable state of moisture. in the top of this pipe were planted several varieties of roses, of different colors, which, rooting freely in the earth around them, soon formed a bushy head, and represented a third-class tree, clothed with rich foliage and beautiful flowers.
this plan could now be practiced with success; and we can scarcely imagine more beautiful objects in a lawn than a number of these pipes, of various heights, single, and in groups, some low, with the small heads of the[pg 78] china or tea roses, others high, and with the large, robust branches of the la reine, and other perpetuals, and others, again, planted with some delicate climbing roses, whose branches, falling down, would form a weeping tree of a most unique, graceful, and showy character. the pipes could be made of earthenware, tin, or wood, and be painted in imitation of the bark of a tree. still better would be the trunk of a small tree, hollowed out for the purpose, which, with the bark on, would puzzle many a close observer, and which could show a luxuriant head of leaves and flowers on the most sterile soil that ever formed a lawn.
from what has been said on the culture of roses among the moors in spain, there can be no doubt that they had made great progress therein; and with the exception of a few statements, evidently unfounded in fact, as the grafting of the rose on the almond, the apple, the jujube, and other trees, the little treatise translated by de la neuville certainly contains most excellent remarks upon the culture of roses, whether we compare them with what the ancients have left us, or even with those of the various writers on rose culture in europe and america within the last half century.
as roses were so frequently propagated from the seed by the moors, they must have known quite a number of varieties, exclusive of all those they had brought or obtained from the east. the yellow rose, unknown to us until recently, was apparently familiar to them; and the blue rose, of which their manuscripts speak, is now extinct, if it indeed ever existed; for amid the infinite variety of roses, of every color and shade, produced from seed in modern times, no one has yet obtained a purely blue rose, and its former existence may well seem to us incredible.
besides the moorish cultivation in spain, the rose has been an object of culture to a great extent in other countries.[pg 79] it has been cultivated principally for the beauty of its flowers, but in many parts of europe and asia, and in the north of africa, its culture has been pursued for commercial purposes. of its abundance in palestine, some conception may be formed from the statement of travelers, that they have not only seen them wild and in great profusion in the vicinity of jerusalem, but have found them in hedges, intermingled with pomegranate trees. doubday states that, when the eastern christians made one of their processions in the church of the holy sepulchre at jerusalem, which continued some two hours, many persons were present with sacks full of rose petals, which they threw by handfuls on the people, and in such immense quantities, that many were covered with them, and they were scattered all over the pavement. in syria and persia it has been cultivated from a very early period, and the ancient name of the former, suristan, is said to signify the land of roses. damascus, cashmere, barbary, and fayoum in egypt, all cultivated the rose extensively for its distilled oil or essence. very little is extant respecting the culture of the rose in the middle ages, but that it was cultivated and valued is known by its having been worn by knights at the tournament, as an emblem of their devotion to grace and beauty. according to loudon, “ludovico verthema, who traveled in the east in 1503, observed that t?ssa was particularly celebrated for roses, and that he saw a great quantity of these flowers at calicut.” the rose is to this day also extensively cultivated in india, and for commercial purposes perhaps in greater abundance than is now known in any other country. bishop heber states that “ghazepoor is celebrated throughout india for the wholesomeness of its air and the beauty and extent of its rose gardens. the rose-fields, which occupy many hundred acres in the neighborhood, are described as, at the proper season, extremely beautiful. they are cultivated for distillation and for making[pg 80] ‘attar of roses.’” he states also, that “many roses were growing in the garden of the palace of delhi, and the fountain pipes were carved with images of roses.” another writer describes in glowing colors the beauty of ghazepoor, the gul-istan (the rose beds,) of bengal. “in the spring of the year, an extent of miles around the town presents to the eye a continual garden of roses, than which nothing can be more beautiful and fragrant. the sight is perfectly dazzling; the plain, as far as the eye can reach, extending in the same bespangled carpet of red and green. the breezes, too, are loaded with the sweet odor which is wafted far across the river ganges.”
these statements sufficiently evince that the rose was not only valued by the hindoos as an article of commerce, but was intimately associated with their ideas of pleasure and enjoyment.
persia, however, was, above all other countries, pre?minent for roses. “sir john chardin, in 1686, found the gardens of the persians without parterres, labyrinths, and other ornaments of european gardens, but filled with lilies, peach trees, and roses; and all modern travelers bear testimony to the esteem in which this flower is held in the east.” sir wm. ousley tells us, in his travels in persia, in 1819, that when he entered the flower garden belonging to the governor of the castle, near farso, he was overwhelmed with roses; and jackson, in his journey, etc., says that the roses of the sinan nile, or garden of the nile, are unequalled; and mattresses are made of their leaves, for men of rank to recline upon. buckingham speaks of the rose plantations of damascus as occupying an area of many acres, about three miles from that city. sir robert ker porter, speaking of the garden of one of the royal palaces of persia, says: “i was struck with the appearance of two rose trees, full fourteen feet high, laden with thousands of flowers, in every degree of expansion, and of a bloom and delicacy of scent that imbued the[pg 81] whole atmosphere with exquisite perfume. indeed, i believe that in no country in the world does the rose grow in such perfection as in persia; in no country is it so cultivated and prized by the natives. their gardens and courts are crowded by its plants, their rooms ornamented with roses, filled with its gathered branches, and every bath strewed with the full-blown flowers, plucked with the ever-replenished stems. * * * but in this delicious garden of negaaristan, the eye and the smell are not the only senses regaled by the presence of the rose: the ear is enchanted by the wild and beautiful notes of multitudes of nightingales, whose warblings seem to increase in melody and softness, with the unfolding of their favorite flowers. here, indeed, the stranger is more powerfully reminded, that he is in the genuine country of the nightingale and the rose.” rivers mentions that sir john malcolm told him, that when in persia he had once breakfasted on an immense heap, or rather mount, of roses, which the persians had raised in honor of him. the rose of cashmere has been long celebrated in the east, for its brilliancy and delicacy of odor—
“who has not heard of the vale of cashmere, with its roses, the brightest that earth ever gave?”
throughout the whole season during which the roses remained in bloom in this beautiful valley, the feast of roses was kept with great rejoicing, and an entire abandonment to pleasure. at this time, a great number of tents were pitched, and multitudes of men, women, boys, and girls, were dancing and singing to the music of their various instruments.
all that has been handed down to us, and all we know at the present time of the climate and productions of persia, and the customs of its inhabitants, prove that it was emphatically the land of roses; and all that we can gather from its history or tradition evinces, that to the[pg 82] inhabitants of the east, including the hindoos and the moors of spain, is this beautiful flower indebted for the most careful and abundant cultivation, and for a due appreciation of its merits.
at the present time the rose is cultivated throughout the civilized world. loudon speaks of hedges of mixed provence roses, in the garden of rosenstein, in germany, and also of their profusion in the public garden of frankfort. they are found in the gardens of valencia, in spain, and sir john carr, speaking of the seat of a spanish gentleman near tarragona, says, “the doors of the dining room open into a small garden, the walls of which are covered with myrtles, jasmines, and roses.” in the botanic garden of madrid, rose trees are used for dividing hedges, and the flower is a favorite throughout spain.
among the spanish ladies, the rose is highly valued, and, with the orange flower, is a favorite ornament for the hair. we have frequently been struck, while traveling in the spanish west indies, and in some parts of south america, with the careful nurture and attention bestowed on a single rose bush, and the delight exhibited at its bloom, while all around in natural luxuriance were the most beautiful and gorgeous plants and flowers which the tropics can produce. the brilliant cactus, the beautiful oleander, the singular orchids, and the delicate and fragrant flowers of the coffee and orange, seemed cast into the shade by the ancient and well-known rose.
i well recollect, that on returning one day from a ride into the country, where i had been luxuriating in the gorgeous splendor of a tropical forest, the fair daughter of my hostess wished to introduce me to a flower, which, in her opinion, far surpassed all that i had seen; she accompanied me to the top of the flat-roofed house, used at the south as a place of evening resort, and there, in one corner, i found a thrifty plant of the tea rose, which to her infinite delight, was just showing above its glossy and delicate[pg 83] young leaves, a little ruby-tipped bud. this little plant had been the object of long and careful nursing, and her attention was now about to be rewarded by a fine and perfect bloom.
in france, however, is the rose a pre?minent object of horticulture, both in commercial establishments and in private gardens. the skill of the french has originated many new and beautiful varieties, which are to be found in several of the nurseries in the united states. the french are constantly searching for improvements in horticultural science and practice, with an enthusiasm rarely found in the more cold englishman, whose skill seems to consist less in the creation of new varieties, than in growing perfectly those already known. none, indeed, can surpass the english in the art of growing fine plants, but we are chiefly indebted to the french for the finest new varieties of the rose.
in great britain, although comparatively little attention has been paid to the obtaining of new varieties, the culture is more careful and the nomenclature more correct. the competition excited by their numerous horticultural exhibitions causes great attention to be given to correct nomenclature and to symmetrical habit of growth. we can imagine nothing more beautiful than some of the plants that we saw at the exhibitions of the london horticultural society at chiswick; every plant was pruned, trained and grown, after an ideal, but perfect model, with its close and luxuriant foliage, its thrifty, symmetrical habit, and the thick, leathery petals of its well-cupped flower. this high standard should be introduced into every society, and if such were the case in this country and the rule were carefully obeyed, the character of our exhibitions would in a short time be very materially changed.
t. rivers is one of the most extensive rose cultivators in england, and is also known as the author of a very excellent descriptive work on the rose. he has also been[pg 84] successful in hybridizing, and has originated come very fine varieties. his attention was at one time directed almost exclusively to the rose, but it now includes many other nursery articles, and on our visit to him, we found him much interested with experiments in fruit culture. lane, wood, and paul, are esteemed very good cultivators, and generally correct in their nomenclature. from these several establishments in england and france have been imported most of the varieties now existing in this country. their trade with the united states is, however, comparatively limited, from the great risk of loss by a sea voyage. we have frequently lost in this way two-thirds or three-quarters of an importation, to our great annoyance and expense, and it is only by repeated and persevering importations that we have been able to obtain all the desirable varieties.
in the united states the culture of the rose has been very much neglected, until within a few years. tulips and dahlias have successively been the rage, and although there has long existed a great variety of roses, comparatively few of them have been cultivated, even in the best gardens of the united states. now the tide is turning. dahlias are going out of repute, and the rose is resuming its ancient empire in the queendom of flora. the advent of the bourbon and the remontant, or perpetual classes, has no doubt materially aided this change, but it is in a great part owing to the easy culture of the plant, and the intrinsic merits and beauty of the flower. the taste of the horticultural public being thus decidedly for the rose, a demand will exist for all the information respecting soil, planting, cultivating, etc., and this information we shall endeavor to supply in a simple and concise manner, avoiding, as far as possible, all technicalities, and adapting it to the use of the cultivator of a single plant in the crowded border of a city garden, or to the more extended culture of a commercial establishment.
[pg 85]
each cultivator has his peculiar mode of doing things, and there may be those who deem the mode laid down here inferior to their own. from these we should be glad to hear, and to make any corrections they may suggest, where such corrections appear to be founded upon true principles. in order to make our work as perfect as possible, we have not hesitated to add to our own experience all the information derived from a personal inspection of french and english nurseries, and to cull from foreign works and periodicals all that may interest our readers. such information, as far as it coincides with our own experience, we shall gladly incorporate, with the hope that we may be successful in presenting every fact of interest which may exist respecting the cultivation of our favorite flower.
