Throughout history no flower has been so loved, revered, or renowned as the rose. Since ancient times the rose has been grown and appreciated for its fragrance and beauty, and today is the most popular and widely cultivated garden flower in the world. Records tell of roses hundreds of years before Christ. The Chinese had so many rose gardens that the emperor ordered some plowed under to allow space to grow food. Ancient Rome also had two thousand public rose gardens before its fall in AD 476. Of some two hundred rose species now known worldwide, thirty-five are indigenous to the United States, making the rose as much a native of North America as the bald eagle. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were among the many early Americans who had special interest in roses.

During the 1800's roses became even more popular because of the increased number of varieties and improved qualities achieved through hybridization. The roses contained more petals, more colors and bloomed more than once or twice a year. Over three thousand varieties of roses were hybridized during this golden age of roses.

In 1867 the first hybrid tea rose, "La France," marked the start of a new era in rose breeding. Those classes in existence before 1867 are now called old garden roses, and some can still be purchased today. Many changes have taken place in the hybrid tea roses over the years, with new varieties abounding that are vigorous growers, resistant to diseases and cold weather and everblooming. Other classes, such as the floribunda, climber, and grandiflora have been developed in the twentieth century. Today there are more than thirty thousand varieties of roses of all classes, with about one-third of them being the popular hybrid teas.

Until the late 1880's, roses were used widely as a medicine for various ailments, and rose hips are still used as a source of vitamin C. However, their main use is to bring enjoyment and satisfaction to those who grow them or purchase them. Roses are highly visible in gardens, cut flowers, floral arrangements and have been named the state flower in four states. In 1986 Congress declared the rose the official national floral emblem of the United States of America.

Roses bring many thoughts to mind, as we associate them with such things as grace, beauty, elegance, dignity, royalty, romance, love, strength, peace and luxury. The book Enjoying Roses aptly states the following—"Common though the rose has been in life and art, it has always transcended the commonplace. For if any flower can embody the wonder and poignancy of life, it is unquestionably the rose." In the pages that follow, we will show some of the rose's associations to Scripture and to Christ and to man, which truly transcend the commonplace and reveal the real meaning and purpose of life as taught by the Creator of the rose and of man.

Though rose blooms are usually enjoyed for several days, eventually they die. Everything in this world must partake of death, but God offers life everlasting freely to all men to enjoy now and forever. It is our prayer that every reader can truly say with the hymnwriter, "I am going to a city [heaven], where the roses never fade."

—T.D.J.