Where the wild roses grow
the next instalment of The Flower Project
Folded layers of scent draped in colours of the setting sun, the rose is a symbol of love, romance, sadness and joy. The RHS deemed it the world’s favourite flower, dedicating whole book to some forty varieties, Shakespeare mentions roses seventy times in his writing and a speedy google of “rose poems” delivers dozens of words devoted to this enduring symbol of emotion. There are those who despise the rose - in England it conjures ideas of old lady perfumes and suburban fussiness. I was largely indifferent to them, with a vague sense that they were rather old fashioned, until received one as a birthday gift, and was breathed in fragrance that is both exotic and familiar, watched the way the colours change as the rose ages and fades, the way shell shaped petals circle their central sun - I was in love.
A potted history of roses
Modern roses have their roots in China and Sumeria. Their popularity spread across Asia and through central and southern Europe, with breeding becoming more complex, and characteristics more intense. They demand respect and care to flourish yet can survive neglect with ragged grace. Roses are used to symbolise milestone events and emotions. They represent the blood of war, the desire for victory, purity and when smothered in cellophane on a garage forecourt in February they represent the panic of forgetful love. Roses are part of funeral rituals, marriage and given as gifts to new parents. Their role in poetry and song endures through the ancient works of Sappho to contemporary, incisive work such as This is how I fight by Rosie Garland.
Symbols of heritage, resistance, and love
The rose as a representation of “Englishness” is curious. England’s only native rose is the simple dog rose found threading its way through hedgerows at midsummer. Single petalled and with the faintest if fragrance, our native rose is wild and untameable, far removed from the whimsical concept of beauty that is conjured by the phrase “a real English rose”, and nostalgic ideas of the manicured suburban rose garden that represented a “better time”.
The roots of this representation can be traced back four centuries. England’s national flower is the Tudor rose created from union of heraldic symbols of the houses of York and Lancaster. The union of these houses brought an end to The Wars of the Roses, and marked the beginning of the Tudor age, regarded as the foundation of modern England. Whilst I have a difficult relationship with the notion of patriotism and the skewed presentation of what it means to be English in twenty first century Britain, one of my favourite aspects of the rose, is that it’s beauty and resilience is a result of the amalgamation of different origins and cultures.
Give us our roses while we’re still here
Roses represent much more than romantic love. Their role within the socialist party dates back to the 1969, when Marc Bonnet drew the rose and fist logo, with the rose as a symbol of hope, and the fist as a symbol the activist commitment and solidarity necessary to achieve a better life for all. In Italy and Germany, the white rose was the symbol of resistance and pursuit of good. Give us our roses while we’re still here is the rallying cry of trans day of remembrance, held in November each year as powerful and moving reminder of the consequences of bigotry. The power of the rose as a symbol, and the power of the love it represents is blasted into our consciousness in this brilliant Haiku from Rosie Garland’s latest collection This is how I fight.
This is How I Fight – Rosie Garland
I’ll never be done
sliding long-stemmed roses
down the barrels of guns
You can read more about This is how I fight on the Nine Arches Press Blog Spot.
Whether I wander through the most beautiful meadow or the bleak aisles of B&Q flowers bring colour, light, and shape to my life. There are some flowers I like better than others, but there are none I find repellent, none that don’t bring some kind of calm. Flowers are universally regarded as Good Things, so why does the rose stand out? I believe it’s because roses are so resilient They survive being placed in entirely the wrong location, they survive inept pruning, infestations, diseases; they may not flourish but given a chance to recover they rarely die.
I put this resilience to the test. My roses have survived and thanks to a replacing blind enthusiasm with more care and research, they’re beginning to thrive. Of the roses I grow, my oldest are the most belligerent. My first was a nameless climber inherited when we bought our terrace over 22 years ago. It shared a section of wall with some over-excited ivy and fell victim to enthusiastic pruning. I mourned it and asked for two new ones for my birthday, which thrilled me as they made their way around the window and door. Within a couple of years, “boss rose” as it is now known, reappeared and is as exuberant as ever. I have roses bought home in scruffy cardboard packages from Woolworth’s bargain bin, roses I’ve moved from place to place in the garden, as well as a collection of David Austin roses some bought to remember people I miss and some because I love the name. Roses bring me joy through more than beauty, they represent recovery from mistakes, and the power of perseverance. I could write about them forever.
I’ll leave you with my own rose poem
Testament - Kathryn Anna Marshall
Testament to cuts made too quick
Testament to too much experience
Testament to not having enough
Testament to watching for growth from a bud eye
Testament to the idea you could thrive
Testament to try to remember
November can also bring blooms
Until next time
Kathryn
xx