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30 June | 2022 Feature W ith their incredible beauty and undeniable fragrance, garden roses are in a class of their own. e amazing cup shape, complex colors, petal count and formation, and fragrance set them apart from other roses and make them so desirable. And fl oral designers and consumers alike love how they open so big and beautifully. In addition, garden roses typically display blended hues that often change as the blooms open. In fl ower designs such as bridal bouquets and centerpieces, it is important to let garden roses open fully, to show off their full magnifi cence. Garden cultivation of roses began some 5,000 years ago, most likely in China and Egypt. During the period of the Roman Empire (27 B.C. to A.D. 476), roses were grown extensively in the Middle East. Roses have been a special part of history and admired by generations. Between 1804 and 1814, the French Empress Joséphine, wife of Napoleon I, built a rose collection at Malmaison, then a château in the country just west of Paris. One of the gardens she created at Malmaison comprised the largest collection of roses in Europe at the time, with some 250 species and varieties. Joséphine brought in rose plants from around the world, and her garden encouraged French rose hybridizers to develop new varieties. She guaranteed the fame of her gardens through her patronage of the Belgian painter and botanist Pierre-Joseph Redouté, who carefully documented the roses, lilies and other fl owers in the gardens at Malmaison, in watercolor paintings. Redouté's masterwork, Les Roses, is a three-volume series of 170 hand-colored plates dedicated to Joséphine's collection of roses. Les Roses was released around 1817, and the botanical illustrations contained within are the most reproduced such illustrations of all time—and they are still highly sought after today. A landmark achievement in rose breeding occurred in the mid-19th century when tea roses were crossed with hybrid perpetuals to create modern hybrid tea roses. e era of Modern Roses was established with the introduction of the fi rst hybrid tea rose, 'La France', a pink cultivar created by the French breeder Jean-Baptiste André Guillot in 1867. e American Rose Society lists more than 40 types of roses in its classifi cation system. Generally, they are grouped into Old World Roses, bred before 1867, and Modern Roses, bred after 1867. By Nita Robertson, AIFD, CFD This page and opposite page: Photos courtesy of David Austin Roses Floral Design: @bowsandarrowsfl owers Photography: @jessicamangiaphotography Design and Styling: @joyproctor

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