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The History of Roses [ Notes by Carl Walker]

      The history of roses is fascinating. I am amused to see roses on a Christmas tree at church since the rose was a symbol of decadence to early Christians – the Romans would cover the floor with rose petals before orgies to keep down smells! In Rome and Egypt roses were grown in huge numbers, if I remember right in greenhouses as well. But with the rise of Christianity they became a symbol of decadence and only returned to popularity during the time of Napoleon. Up till then they were grown in small numbers in monasteries as a herb.
      Josephine was from "New World" and grew up on an island where roses were popular and loved roses and brought them back into popularity. Her rose garden in which first hybrid tea was produced set off a fad that still continues today.  She also paid for an artist to create the first book of pictures of the different roses. Even in middle of the war with England, her gardener responsible for her garden was allowed to go through war lines to go back and forth to his home in Scotland.
      I have always found history of interest and there are a lot of amusing facts. For example,

  1. What did Napoleon do on Josephine's front porch that really annoyed her?
    (Ans.: He would shoot at swans on lack of a decorative lake in front of the house.)
  2. What did Josephine do when Napoleon divorced her because he wanted a child and she was barren? 
    (Ans.: She married another man and had a child!)
  3. What did Napoleon do to his horse in the barn before riding it out? 
    (Ans.: He sprayed it with perfume to keep down smells of battle)

History is fascinating when you get past the superficial teaching in school into facts about people.

(I hope more members will submit such interesting historical notes for others to share. Editor)


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Created on 26th April 1999.