Where was the rose born? The question is not as simple as it seems. Unlike, say, potatoes (South America) or wheat (Middle East), the rose does not have one single "cradle". Its ancestors grew all over the Northern Hemisphere — from North America to China, from Europe to the Himalayas. The rose is a global flower with an ancient history. However, if you are looking for the "birthplace" of the cultural rose (the one in our gardens), the palm of primacy belongs to Central Asia and ancient Persia. Let's embark on this paleobotanical journey. First roses on Earth Roses (genus Rosa) have existed for 40 million years. Fossilized leaf and thorn prints have been found in oligocene deposits in Colorado (USA), Europe (Bavaria), and Asia (China). Then, after the extinction of the dinosaurs, the climate was warmer, and roses grew even in the Arctic (on Svalbard!). Modern wild species (shrub roses) are widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere: from the Pyrenees to Japan, from Alaska to the Himalayas. It is believed that the center of species diversity is Western China and the Himalayas, where more than 150 wild species grow. It was from there that roses began their triumphant march to the west, to Europe, and to the east, to America, through natural bridges (Beringia). So, the "geographical homeland" of roses is the entire Northern Hemisphere. First domestication: China and Persia Although wild roses grew everywhere, targeted cultivation began about 5000 years ago in two centers: Ancient China (the Zhou Dynasty) and Persia (the territory of modern Iran). The Chinese were the first to select bushes with repeated flowering and a beautiful fragrance. It was from China that tea roses and musk roses later came to Europe. But the main "garden" of early rose culture was Persia. Persian kings created huge rose gardens, brewed rose water, dedicated roses to the goddess Anahita. It is believed that the famous "damask rose" (Rosa damascena) originated in Persia as a result of natu ... Read more