Top Reasons For Planting A Rose Garden
The beautiful flowers are the main reason for planting a rose garden. Roses have been popular throughout the ages. The Empress Josephine, following the French Revolution, was so impressed with roses she went about collecting every known type of rose for her garden and made gardening the “thing to do” for generations of gardeners.
Today, there are many varieties of roses, many that are descendants of the early roses. Besides the many varieties available there are other characteristics that draw people to roses. They come in all colors, form, fragrance and substance. Some bloom once while others bloom all through the season. This is the reason why gardeners find roses so appealing and want to include them in their rose gardens.
There is beauty in all parts of the flower, but it is the petals that most people consider perfection in a rose. The elements that make up this perfection include their color, fragrance, substance and arrangement. Petal formation comes in three groups:
• Single formation means the flower has 5 petals arranged in a single row. The ‘Dainty Bess’ is a single hybrid tea rose with 5 pale pink petals.
• Semi-double formation may have two or three rows of 12 to 16 petals. The hedge rose, ‘Simplicity,’ is a good example of semi-double blooms.
• Double formation or fully double blooms have more than 17 petals. Double roses tend to be larger and showier than those of fewer petals. ‘Mister Lincoln’ is a prime example of this formation.
While on the topic of petal formations, let’s take it a bit more in detail and consider the arrangement of the petals. Multi-petaled roses with large or formal shape are frequently labeled exhibition roses. They have gracefully formed petals that are symmetrically arranged with a high pointed center. The arrangement of petals as they unfurl is judged on symmetry as well as the spacing of the gaps. Each variety of rose has its own innate characteristics but each exhibition rose is at its perfect stage of bloom when it is between half and three-quarters of the way open.
Roses are also judged by their colors. Some of the elements that contribute to its color are brightness, hue, and chroma. Brightness refers to how clear and vivid the blooms are. Hue includes the visual impact of the petals and how that color varies from other colors. Chroma is the intensity and purity of the hue with no gray or white in its hue. The ideal petal of substance is an amazing blend of brightness and chroma.
For obvious reasons many gardeners choose roses for more than their fragrance, but it sure is nice to be able to enjoy their fragrance as an added benefit. Many of the most beautiful roses have little or no fragrance but they have beautiful showy blooms. About 20 percent of roses have an intense fragrance so keep an open mind when shopping. If you only want roses that smell great you may miss out on some of the exceptional varieties available. The fragrance may be given off by every part of the plant including the thorns, but the greatest concentration is in the petals of the rose. Fragrance is the result of chemical reactions in both the rose and the atmosphere.
Apparently there is a connection between fragrance and the other characteristics of the rose. Darker roses are more fragrant than lighter ones. Those with lots of petals have a stronger more intense scent than those with fewer petals. Reds and pinks are closely related with the classic rose scent. The scent of white and yellow roses is similar in to that of orrisroot, violets and other flowery and fruity scents. The ‘Crimson Glory’ and ‘Chrysler Imperial,’ both red hybrid tea roses, have won awards for their fragrance as well as the other qualities.
Armed with these top reasons for planting a rose garden, you will look upon your garden and selection of specimens for your garden in a new light. For the most satisfaction include a variety of fragrant and non-fragrant plants.
For more information you can download the Guide to Growing Roses.
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Therapeutic Benefits Of Roses
What Are The Therapeutic Benefits Of Roses?
Roses are flowers that give off the feeling of warmth, giving, and love, but they also hold special benefits as well. Therapeutic benefits of roses are numerous and go back a long time in history. They have a special scent that gives wonderful aromatherapy effects for the heart and the soul. Within the rose, you will find rose oil and rose water, which are often transformed into a topical substance. Rose oil is an essential oil extracted from fresh petals of pink roses and used as an antidepressant, antiseptic, antiviral, laxative and for tonic benefits. The flowery fragrance of rose oil is often mixed with other essential oils such as lavender, geranium, bergamot, and chamomile to make aromatherapy products.
The therapeutic benefits of roses are mostly associated with topical products for skin care. They have been used for dry and sensitive skin and making aging skin look younger. The rose has also been used as a therapeutic sedative to soothe the nerves. It can help in the treatment of stress, peptic ulcers, nervous tensions, and even heart disease. You wouldn’t think that a single rose could have this much power, but it actually does.
Other therapeutic benefits of roses include having a positive influence on such conditions as circulation, bile secretion, digestion, and problems with nausea and constipation. It is also used as a detoxifier that purges the body of toxins and waste products. There are many people that will add rose petals to a cup of hot tea to soothe their sore throat. The flowers of the rose that have swollen to a seed are called rose hips. These rose hips are often used in tea form in order to help alleviate bladder infections and diarrhea. This tea is also a great source of vitamin C. Other vitamins that you can find in rose hips include E, D, B3 and A.
Roses have played a role throughout history as romantic symbols. They are often considered symbols of love and marriage, and it is the flower most often given to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Legend holds that Cleopatra used rose oil to seduce Mark Anthony. The Romans and East Indians used roses as decorations for weddings and funerals. They also believed that if you scattered rose petals at banquets it would prevent drunkenness. The rose often adorned the shields of warriors during medieval times. They were often used in religious rituals, and monks used roses as an integral part of meditation rituals.
There are many therapeutic benefits of roses as well as the visual and sensory delight they impart. The next time you stop to view or smell a beautiful rose enjoy the uplifting feeling you experience from roses.
To learn more about growing roses get your copy of the Guide to Growing Roses here
For more on this topic check outThe Essential Oil From Pink Roses Provide Healthful Benefits
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