Roses In America

In North America, wild roses grow from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, and no indigenous rose has ever been found growing south of the Equator. In 1921, in fact, the American Nature Study Society made a study of roses native to the Americas and of the 200 plus then known species, the Society found 35 that are indigenous.

In reality the history of the rose in America would probably have begun with the forty million year old fossil found at Florissant, Colorado. Then in 1492, Columbus and his crew found a rose branch and hips floating in the Sargasso Sea where they were becalmed, and carried it with them to the New World. The early English settlers also brought slips of their favorite varieties with them but found there to be many already established.

Roses were loved by many of those who forged American history. William Penn brought 18 rose bushes back from England when he returned to the colonies in 1699, and George Washington planted roses at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson was very fond of the roses he had planted at his Monticello gardens. In fact, by 1800, John Adams had planted a rose garden at the White House, which later became a formal rose garden right outside the President’s office. This was constructed in 1913, under the auspicious eye of Mrs. Woodrow Wilson.

The first rose to be hybridized in America was a pink climbing rose. John Champneys of Charleston crossed two roses and named his seedling Champneys Pink Cluster. Unfortunately a local florist sent it to France where it was renamed and sold as Blush Noisette. This was in 1816. Another American rose that was highly prized in Europe was the Dorothy Perkins rambler. This pink climber was introduced in 1901 and became very famous on the pillars of Europe.

The rose is entwined forever into American history and in recognition of this, states have chosen them as their official flowers. Georgia chose the white Cherokee for example and North Dakota the prairie rose. Then in 1958 a bill was introduced into Congress by Senator Margaret Chase Smith and Representative Frances Bolton to designate the rose our national flower. In recognition of its rich history, the National Floral Emblem of the United States was selected by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to be “The Rose”.