Decorative Roses: Originating in the Orient the rose became a popular growth with the Greeks, who in turn carried its cultivation into their colonies in Italy and elsewhere. The ephebes in their youthful capacity as servers of wine to the guests wore decorative roses on their heads as did also the female dancers. In the orgies following the banquet decorative roses were used in great abundance, smothering the tables, and the Latin term sub rosa is said to have originated from the rule that all acts after the arrival of the flowered decoration were considered secret with the convivialists. Nero is said to have squandered $150,000 in decorative roses at a single feast; the sybarites are said to have reposed on a bed of decorative roses.
This comprises decorative roses that flower chiefly on short lateral shoots as well as sub-laterals originating from two-year-old, or olden wood, including:
• R. x alba types
• Provence rose (R. centifolid) and its types
• Moss decorative roses
• Most Damasks
• Modern shrub decorative roses which have one main flush of bloom in mid-summer |
