15/08/2026
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ONE ROSE
Wild, Historic and Modern — The Story of the Rose
There are flowers we admire, and then there is the rose.
The rose is more than a flower. It is part of human history — growing in gardens, appearing in paintings and poetry, filling the air with perfume, and becoming a symbol of love, remembrance, friendship and celebration.
Today, there are tens of thousands of named roses in cultivation. Yet behind this extraordinary diversity lies a much older story.
Every garden rose has a history.
Some of that history begins in the wild.
THE WILD ROSES
Long before breeders created the roses we know today, wild Rosa species grew across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
These wild roses provided many of the qualities that later generations of breeders would use: fragrance, colour, hardiness, hips, climbing ability, disease resistance and, in some cases, repeat flowering.
Rosa gallica, the Gallica Rose, is one of the great European ancestors of cultivated roses. It became the foundation of the historic Gallica roses and has been grown for centuries.
Rosa damascena, the Damask Rose, is one of the world’s great perfume roses. Its fragrance became particularly important in the production of rose oil and attar, connecting the rose with the history of perfume.
Rosa chinensis, the China Rose, changed European rose breeding forever. Its ability to flower repeatedly was particularly important in the development of the modern rose.
Rosa foetida, the Austrian Briar, played an important role in introducing stronger yellow colouring into European rose breeding.
Rosa rugosa, from East Asia, became famous for its toughness, fragrance, foliage and large hips.
Rosa canina, the Dog Rose, remains one of Europe’s best-known wild roses.
Rosa spinosissima, the Scots Rose, is admired for its hardiness and dark foliage.
Rosa multiflora and Rosa wichuraiana later became important in breeding climbing, rambling and cluster-flowering roses.
And Rosa moschata, the Musk Rose, contributed its distinctive fragrance to cultivated roses.
These wild species are the living foundation beneath the enormous world of cultivated roses.
THE HISTORIC ROSES
Before modern rose breeding, gardeners selected their favourite roses and gradually developed great historic groups.
Gallicas.
Damasks.
Albas.
Centifolias.
Moss Roses.
Chinas.
Bourbons.
Noisettes.
Hybrid Perpetuals.
Each group has its own story.
One of the famous ancient Gallicas is Apothecary’s Rose, Rosa gallica Officinalis, traditionally associated with medicinal and apothecary use.
York and Lancaster became famous for its unusual striped colouring and its association with the Wars of the Roses.
Old Blush, an important China Rose, helped demonstrate the extraordinary importance of repeat flowering.
Quatre Saisons is an old repeat-flowering Damask, treasured for fragrance.
Cuisse de Nymphe is a beautiful Alba rose with delicate pale-blush flowers.
Then came roses such as Madame Hardy, introduced in 1832 by Alexandre Hardy in France. This magnificent white Damask is still admired for its flower form and fragrance.
Souvenir de la Malmaison, introduced in 1843, became one of the great Bourbon roses. It was named after Joséphine Bonaparte’s famous garden at Malmaison and is remembered for its large, romantic flowers.
ZĂ©phirine Drouhin, introduced in 1868, became one of the most famous Bourbon climbers. It is particularly loved for its fragrance and nearly thornless stems.
Madame Alfred Carrière, introduced in 1879, became a classic Noisette climbing rose with pale flowers and a long flowering season.
These roses belong to a time when the garden rose was beginning to change dramatically.
THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN ROSE
Then came 1867.
A rose called La France was introduced by Jean-Baptiste André Guillot fils in France.
La France is generally regarded as the first Hybrid Tea rose and is traditionally used to mark the beginning of the modern rose era.
It combined characteristics of Hybrid Perpetuals and Tea roses and opened the way for a completely new generation of roses.
The modern rose had begun.
Another landmark was New Dawn, introduced in 1930 in the United States. It became one of the great climbing roses of the twentieth century.
THE GREAT ROSES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The twentieth century produced some of the most famous roses ever grown.
Peace, introduced in 1945 by Francis Meilland, became perhaps the world’s most famous rose.
Its large flowers, yellow at the centre and edged with pink, captured the imagination of gardeners around the world.
Its name was particularly meaningful because it appeared at the end of the Second World War.
Queen Elizabeth, introduced in 1954, became one of the great pink Grandiflora roses.
Iceberg, introduced in 1958, became one of the world’s best-known white Floribundas, famous for its generous flowering.
Fragrant Cloud, introduced in 1963, became famous for its powerful fragrance.
Mister Lincoln, introduced in 1964, became a classic deep-red Hybrid Tea with an exceptionally strong fragrance.
Double Delight, introduced in 1977, became famous for its red-and-white flowers and strong perfume.
Bonica, introduced in 1982, helped demonstrate the growing importance of shrub roses that could flower abundantly and perform well in the garden.
But another revolution was already taking place.
THE ENGLISH ROSE
David Austin wanted something very special.
He wanted to bring back the beauty, fragrance and romantic flower forms of the old roses while retaining the repeat flowering and useful qualities of modern roses.
His first English Rose was Constance Spry, introduced in 1961.
Although it flowered only once, it represented the beginning of a remarkable breeding journey.
Then came roses such as Graham Thomas, Mary Rose, Heritage and Abraham Darby.
Graham Thomas became one of the world’s most famous yellow English Roses.
Mary Rose became a classic soft-pink English Rose.
Heritage brought a delicate, romantic character to the garden.
Abraham Darby became famous for its large apricot-pink flowers and strong fragrance.
Then came Gertrude Jekyll.
Gertrude Jekyll became one of the great English Roses, particularly famous for its powerful Old Rose fragrance.
In 2025, Gertrude Jekyll was voted the World’s Favourite Rose by the World Federation of Rose Societies, with votes from rose societies in 40 countries.
Other famous English Roses include William Shakespeare 2000, The Generous Gardener, Lady of Shalott and Olivia Rose Austin.
The English Rose became a bridge between two worlds.
The romance of the past.
And the possibilities of the modern garden.
PETER BEALES AND THE PRESERVATION OF ROSE HERITAGE
Another important name in the world of roses is Peter Beales.
Peter Beales was a rosarian, breeder, author and passionate champion of species and historic roses.
He founded Peter Beales Roses in Norfolk in 1968 and spent much of his career promoting and preserving the extraordinary heritage of the rose.
His work is important because rose history is not only about creating new varieties.
It is also about protecting the old ones.
Among roses connected with the Peter Beales story are Sandringham, The Oxford Physic Rose, The Queen’s Jubilee Rose and Highgrove.
Peter Beales represents an important link between rose conservation, breeding and the modern rose garden.
THE MODERN LANDSCAPE ROSE
As gardening changed, so did the rose.
Gardeners increasingly wanted roses that were beautiful but also healthy, vigorous, repeat flowering and easier to grow.
Pierre de Ronsard, also known as Eden Rose, was introduced by Meilland in 1987. It became one of the world’s most famous romantic climbing roses, with large pink-and-cream flowers.
Knock Out, bred by William Radler and introduced in 2000, became a major modern landscape rose because of its repeat flowering and disease resistance.
Julia Child became a much-loved yellow Floribunda.
Munstead Wood brought deep crimson colouring and strong fragrance to the modern English Rose.
The modern rose continues to evolve.
THE ROSE GARDENS OF SCANDINAVIA
Rose history does not live only in books.
It lives in gardens.
Scandinavia has some remarkable rose collections.
In Norway, the Rosarium at the Arboretum and Botanical Garden at Milde near Bergen contains more than 500 different roses.
It is Norway’s largest rose collection and is particularly interesting because it brings together the story of wild, historic and modern roses.
It is almost a living history book.
In Sweden, Gothenburg’s Rosarium in Trädgårdsföreningen contains around 1,200 different rose varieties.
It is one of Scandinavia’s great rose collections and, in 2025, received the Award of Garden Excellence from the World Federation of Rose Societies.
For anyone who loves roses, these gardens are living libraries.
ONE ROSE — THOUSANDS OF STORIES
From Rosa gallica growing wild…
To the ancient Damask…
To the roses of medieval and Renaissance gardens…
To the great Bourbon and Alba roses…
To La France and the birth of the Hybrid Tea…
To Peace after the Second World War…
To David Austin’s dream of bringing Old Rose beauty back into the modern garden…
And to today’s healthy, repeat-flowering roses…
The story continues.
Every modern rose carries something from the past.
Some carry fragrance.
Some carry colour.
Some carry hardiness.
Some carry the genes of wild ancestors.
Some carry the shape and perfume of the old roses.
That is what makes the rose so extraordinary.
A rose is never simply a rose.
It is nature.
It is history.
It is breeding.
It is art.
It is memory.
And sometimes, when we stop and smell one beautiful flower, we are standing in front of thousands of years of human history.
ONE ROSE.
Wild. Historic. Modern.
ONE ROSE ONE FLOWER AN ENTIRE WORLD
