Roses have enjoyed a long history of cultural symbolism and social popularity. There are over 150 known species of rose in the world, both wild and cultivated and through time they have been representative not only of love and romance but politics, war and religion.

Though fossil evidence indicates that the rose is actually over 35 million years old, the earliest known references are found in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians including the first known botanical description written by Theophrastus before 235 BC.

Garden cultivation of roses is believed to have begun some five thousand years ago in the Orient. But it was during the Roman period that they were grown extensively in the Middle East and their popularity began to spread across Europe. The rose became strongly linked with Venus, the Roman goddess of love and rose petals were strewn as confetti at celebrations. With the fall of the Roman empire, roses were grown only in monastic gardens and during the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries roses became important as symbols of Christianity. In architecture Rose windows made their appearance gracing cathedrals such as Rheims and Chartes.The general popularity of the rose was only later revived by the Crusaders on their return from missions to the Holy Land and the Middle East.

In the 13th century the great ruling Houses of York and Lancaster took white and red roses as their emblems. The civil war that long divided the country between these two factions became known as the War of the Roses. However, when King Henry VII of Lancaster finally won the throne and took Elizabeth, heiress to the House of York, as his wife the rose became the Royal Emblem of England and the white and red roses joined in unity.

Later records show that both native Indians and early pilgrim settlers in the Americas planted wild roses to beautify their settlements and Henry Steigel, the first avid collector of roses in America, had by 1773 established an impressive rose collection.

By the late eighteenth century cultivated roses had been introduced into Europe from China. Rose gardens became fashionable, and Napoleon's wife Josephine established an extensive collection of roses at Chateau de Malmaison. It was here in 1824 that the acclaimed botanical illustrator, Pierre Joseph Redoute, completed his watercolour collection entitled "Les Rose".

The Victorians were particularly fond of roses for decorative and romantic purposes and with the turn of the century came the advent of florist shops to meet the new demand.

During its long and varied history, the rose has been highly valued for its many uses. These have included art and decoration, health and medicine, make-up and perfume and even as legal tender. But as a great symbol of love and devotion there is much evidence to be found in myth and fable, poetry and literature - both modern and old.