The flowers of most species of rose have five petals except for the species ‘Rosa sericea‘ which has only four. Large number of petals is a result of mutation and it can be seen in cultivated roses. The cultivation of roses most likely began in Asia around 5000 years ago. There are approximately 13,000 identifiable varieties of roses throughout the world.
Roses can survive for extremely long periods of time. The Thousand-year Rose grows on a wall of the Hildesheim Cathedral, a Catholic cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, that is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It is believed to be the oldest living rose in the world. The world’s largest rosebush is of the Lady Banksia variety. The rosebush’s canopy measures 790 square meters (8,500 square feet), its trunk has a circumference of around 3.6 meters (12 feet).It was planted in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1885.
One of the oldest fossils of roses discovered in Colorado dates back from 35 million years ago. During the fifteenth century, the factions fighting to control England used the rose as a symbol. The white rose represented York, and the red rose symbolised Lancaster. Not surprisingly, the conflict between these factions became known as the “War of the Roses“.
Juliet rose is known as the “£3 million rose” ($4.37 million) because that’s how much it cost famed rose breeder David Austin to create the apricot-hued hybrid over the course of 15 years. It debuted in 2006 at the Chelsea Flower Show, and took the floral world by storm not only for its blushing beauty, but because it was the most expensive rose ever developed.
