THE ROSE

Synonyms for Rose: Dog rose, Rosa canina
Scientific Name: Rosa ssp.
Family: Rosaceae (the rose family)

Description:

What picture appears before our eyes when we think of the rose? Certainly first and foremost that of the hybrid tea rose, distinguished and elegantly slim with its multi-petalled bloom, which hides its innermost secrets from the observer. The colour of the petals, their shape, the way they grow: there appear to be an impossibly large number of varieties of rose, in fact there are about 20 000 of them! In this deluge it is all too easy to forget their far older original sisters the dog roses, the petals of which are simple and which open their hearts wide to us and are rich in perfume and rose hips. The strength for their petals is drawn from the deep root which is firmly embedded in the ground. The hybrid tea rose has lost this vitality and is therefore always grafted to the rootstock of a dog rose.

Surprising details can be found out about the rose: for example each petal of the five-petalled bloom has its own form, and even the five small green sepals differ from each other.