Everyone loves roses. Apart from being the national flower of England, it seems that Americans like them too. The first US president George Washington bred roses in his home, and in 1986 President Ronald Reagan passed a law that the rose was now the official national flower of the US. It’s also the state flower of Georgia, Iowa, New York, North Dakota, and the District of Columbia.
.gif)
The first domestic cultivation of roses was probably in China. The Romans loved roses too – they used them as confetti at weddings for medicine and perfume and grew enormous public rose gardens.
Roses surprisingly are in the same family as pears apples cherries apricots and almonds — they even have small red fruit called rose hips from which their petals grow. Today although most species are native to Asia they are grown in most places worldwide. In the US thousands of acres of roses are grown each year — 60% of them in California — and millions are sold every year especially on Mother’s Day.
To read the rest of this story please buy this issue of Mishpacha or sign up for a weekly subscription.
Create a free account to keep reading.
