Scientific Name: Rosa
Common Name: Rose
Care: Difficult
Why the Rose Belongs to Your Urban Home
The rose (Rosa) is a flower set literally and symbolically across time and space. One of the most culturally loaded plants in the world, it features in stories, poems, and mythologies, from poetry and Sufi mysticism to Greek tragedy to Victorian floriography, in bouquets, pots, and gardens.
But why the rose? That question has been asked many times as well— a rose is a rose is a rose, and a rose by any other name would still be a rose. Is there something inherent about the rose that converts it into such a prominent symbol of romance, or a popular addition to the home?
I would say that there is, but it’s not the reason you’d expect.
The Myth of the Nightingale and the Rose
In central Asia, where the ancient Persians used to reside, there was a bird called Bulbul. The nightingale. A shrill, plain, palm-sized little thing, he watched as the other birds flaunted their beauty, their talent, their song, their mimicry, each of them using their talents to find a partner to share warmth and company during the colder months.
He himself could boast of nothing but his pride. He was no more notable than the branches he sat on, and the sound of his voice against his throat was like a fork against a chalkboard, scraping his poor little throat, as well as the ears of any unfortunate passerby. Yet, he resolved that, if heaven never gifted him a name, he’d make one for himself. He couldn’t change how he looked, but he had all the time in the world to practice his song, and so every day, from morning to night, he sang. He toiled and tortured himself desperately, screeching and screeching harder as he began to realize it wasn’t getting any better, still begging himself for some semblance of beauty he might be able to present to someone who would love him.
Until he couldn’t.
His voice had gone completely.
Exhausted and devastated, the nightingale collapsed amongst brambles and thorns and wept silently, as the last of his hope, scraped from his body like a raspy breath, swept into the empty air. And now from his face, only tears— seeping incessantly into the ground and flooding the roots of the brambles around him. He stayed this way so long, face in the ground, that he didn’t notice the brambles growing around him, peeking hints of bright green and enveloping him in a soft, sweet, intoxicating fragrance.
But after some time, the scent itself became incessant, and the nightingale couldn’t resist his curiosity to look up. And he looked up to find beauty.
A sheer white flower bursting with silken petals.
When his eyes landed on her, he fell violently in love. He found quickly that he couldn’t reach her, for she was covered in thorns, nor could he wave her down, for she had no eyes, and in his desperation, he opened his mouth to cry out for her. And miraculously, he found that he could. For the first time, his voice sprang up to match the beauty he saw before him, and his cry had curled into his first song.
And she— she could not see him, but she fell in love with his voice. She had heard the desperate screams that came from him before and felt the bitter tears he fed her, and so she knew that the song that rose from him was made for her.
The two of them became inseparable. Yet they could never reach each other due to the barrier of shriking thorns that covered her body. And when winter came, the nightingale fretted endlessly as snow covered his love like a disease… and then it killed her.
Losing his voice, the nightingale wept silently and revisited where his lover once stood, all winter long, and until spring.
Then, a bud came back. The nightingale threw himself to hope. He began to sing, and to the sound of his voice, the rose returned. The nightingale was overcome with his emotion and ran toward her, embracing her so tightly that her thorns pierced his heart and painted the roses red.
Quick Guide: How to Grow a Rose (Rosa) Indoors
Roses, growing all across the globe, come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Each of these varieties need slightly different treatment, complicating general care guides like these. Thus, when starting out with a rose plant, it’s often important to identify it, and tweak its care based on its particular origins and characteristics.
These are just some of the different varieties to note:
| Name | Zone | Area | Description |
| Wild Rose | 3-8 | Native: Asia, Africa, Europe, North America | Hardy, not hybridized, single petals |
| Damask Rose | 4-11 | Native: Syria (Asia) | Bloom once unless in the name |
| China rose | 5-11 | Native: China (Asia) | Smaller continuous blooms, less fragrance, suntan over time |
| Polyantha/multiflora rose | 5-9 | Native: Southeast Asia | compact, large cluster of small blooms, low maintenance |
| English rose | 5-11 | Native: Europe | Hardy, disease resistant, shrubby, single bloom |
| Tea rose | 7-9 | Hybrid: China rose cultivars | Florist’s classic rose, not cold hardy, originally yellow, continuous blooms |
| Hybrid Tea rose | 6-11 | Hybrid: English rose + Tea rose (Graft) | Large buds, reblooms, not disease resistant, for cut flowers |
| Floribunda rose | 6-10 | Hybrid: Polyantha + Hybrid tea rose | Not much scent, hardy |
| Grandiflora rose | Hybrid: Floribunda +hybrid tea rose | ||
| Miniature rose | 6-9 | Hybrid: Grandiflora + hybrid tea rose | Hardy, 10” |
| Bourbon Rose | 5-11 | Hybrid: Damask rose + China rose | (reunion) heady scent, few to no thorns, trained to climb (5-11) |
Some roses (like wild roses) can survive the temperature dips of USDA Zone 3; both China roses and English roses are hardy, surviving in climates as cold as Zone 5; but the tea rose, a darling of the florist that was hybridized between China and English roses, despises the cold, standing nothing lower than a Zone 6. Some varieties are disease-resistant, but the degree of resistance depends on the hybrid.
Fun fact: European species tend to bloom once annually, while Orientals have continuous blooms (a highly prized feature in hybrid flowers). For an unknown reason, no roses originate from the southern hemisphere, but Ecuador is now a global provider.
Roses also have different growing patterns, from groundcovers and shrubs to rambling and vine roses.
Light, Soil & Container Requirements
Despite the differences between contrasting varieties of roses, most roses can be quite difficult to manage, especially in indoor settings. This is because roses are sensitive to fungi.
Lacking many protective anti-fungal alkaloids of some other plant species, the rose prefers environments that promote leaf health (with nutrients and sunlight) and discourages fungal growth (through air circulation and water control).
- Placement: Gardeners recommend placing roses in an uncluttered area with ample ventilation for at least 5-6 hours of direct sunlight. The easiest way to achieve this is to grow the rose outside, but in urban environments where this might not be possible, the environment can be roughly supplemented with artificial lights and fans (there is no real way to recreate an outdoor environment indoors, so it’s important to check plants regularly for mildew and pests).
- Container: In order to avoid an accumulation of moisture (which would encourage fungal growth), it may be easier to manage a pot that is about as big as the plant, for roses. However, because container environments tend to change faster than the conditions in the ground (for example, it dries much faster), it’s important to keep them as consistent as possible.
- Soil: Nutrient-rich soil provides the best foundation for roses to thrive and flower, but because of the threat of fungal infection, it’s best to make this substrate airy and clean. The best rose composition is likely peat moss, compost, perlite/vermiculite in equal parts. Dead matter should be cleared around the plant’s stem.
Watering & Fertilization
- Water: Roses should be watered twice weekly between 12 pm and 6 pm around the root’s perimeter (the water line). This is because roses are healthiest in rather consistent conditions (frequent waterings would be able to offer some of this stability), but the water can also promote fungal growth, especially if directly applied to the plants’ leaves and stems. Thus, it’s best to water the plant at a distance when the sun is highest.
- Fertilization: Balanced fertilizers are recommended. Roses tend to be hungry plants during their growing season, so many people who grow their plants outside (and some who grow their plants inside) recommend supplementing new compost every year in the spring. After all, chemical fertilizers are not perfect, and the slight imbalance of nutrients can often lead to softer, weaker shoots that are more easily infested with pests. However, in a lot of cases, frequent compost supplementation may not be ideal, and regular balanced fertilizers (20-20-20 is the standard) are recommended (applied every 3-4 weeks, or every week in a diluted dose). If the leaves start to grow yellow between green veins, magnesium supplements (Ex. epsom salts) are also recommended.
Propagation & Pruning Tips
The rose often requires frequent pruning and cleanup to prevent a painful and unruly mess of fungal disease. Improper pruning can still lead to unruly bushes that harbor new colonies of pests and mold.
- Pruning:
- Best in the winter (when stored energy can be released).
- Softwood cuttings are recommended (seeds can be more difficult and prone to variations or disease).
- Method: Many members of the Rose family can be propagated with softwood cuttings (new branches). Because roses are prone to disease/mold, the best way to propagate them is to cut a ~20-25cm stem diagonally (at a 45° angle), sterilize the entire plant with an antimicrobial-antifungal solution of your choice (I personally use betadine solution), remove all but the top few leaves, apply rooting hormone to the bottom of the stem, then placing a third of the stem in a clean substrate (1 part peat, 1 part perlite/sand), and keeping this soil consistently moist and aerated.
Disease prevention and treatment
The problems that arise with roses are often fungal, and the types of diseases come in a large plethora:
| Disease | Colour | Symptoms | Cause |
| Powdery Mildew | White | Powder (often on young leaves/stems), distorted/reddened leaves | Humid weather with limited rain |
| Mosaic | Yellow-white | Lightened veins, disappear in the summer but reappear in the fall (often mistaken for nutrient deficiency) | Virus spread by pests (aphids/mites/etc) or pollen |
| Rust | Yellow | Powdery spots over the leaves | Humid cool weather |
| Blight | Yellow-brown | Canker, petal-tip browning | Still air and water accumulation |
| Rose rosette | Red | Reddish, swollen stems, increased thorns, thin leaves (often dies over winter) | Virus transmitted by mite |
| Downy Mildew | Red/brown | Dark spots, (sometimes) red thread-line stem splits, rapidity (germinates in 4h) | Humid cool weather (often around sundown and over the winter) |
| Bortrytis/Ghost spotting/Stem Canker | Gray/pink/brown | Spots/blight, canker | Still air and water accumulation |
| Cercospora leaf spot / Antrhacnose | Maroon/purple | Spots with defined edges and dead-cell centers | Hot humid (Cercospora) / Cool dry (Anthracnose) |
| Black spot fungus | Black | Black spots with feathery edges on leaves, leaves yellow and fall off | Warm wet weather |
| Pytophthora root rot | – | Crispy leaf edges, leaves falling from the ground up, lack of feeder roots | Poorly drained soil |
| Armillaria root rot | – | White mold at base/root, appearance of brown mushrooms | Drought |
| Slime mold | – | Gooey ground | Warm wet weather |
The rose can also easily suffer from fasciation (flattened leaves), crown galls/tumors, aphids, and ants, which doesn’t help the plant, because the plant often requires health to form resistance. To make matters worse, evidence suggests that many of these diseases have co-evolved with different varieties of roses.
Thus, disease and mold are often unavoidable for roses. In some cases, natural fungicides (1 part baking soda: 10 parts water: a drop of soap) are effective as a biorational solution (baking soda combats the fungus, and the soap adheres the powder to the leaves while breaking down pests’ cellular lining), but the effectiveness of solutions often depends on the geographical location; poor conditions invite infestation to recoup quickly.
What is a Rose? Love from a Biological Perspective
With this introduction of the plant in your home, you might be wondering why exactly the rose is such a prevalent romantic symbol. Or at least, what the hell is up with the story of the nightingale.
After all, the rose isn’t a particularly unique plant. As Gertrude Stein and Shakespeare put it, a rose is a rose (is a rose). In fact, botanically speaking, the rose is the “type plant” of its family (Rosaceae). This essentially means it’s basically a case study of its group (the one with the most standard traits).
Like most of its family, the rose has five base petals on hermaphroditic flowers, cyanide-brushed seeds, and nutritious fruits containing vitamin C (other members of this plant being apple, cherry, strawberry, and almond). Many species also have fragrant flowers and sharp thorns, growing into brambles (the well-known raspberry plant comes to mind).
So, what the hell?
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose and its Thorns: A symbol for its characteristics
Maybe the rose was simply a convenient analogy for love that caught on over time. After all, roses are beautiful but difficult plants. Not only are they prone to disease, but they also have thick canes and sharp thorns that are difficult but necessary to maintain. Many people have developed very strict regimens and schedules for fertilizing (natural, granular), dead-heading (only up to the end of the season), and pruning (directing the buds outwards for bushier, spaced canes).
It can be the same for love. Most people who’ve been in love will tell you that love often requires a lot of care and maintenance, and without the labour and dedication to a partnership, relationships can easily get messy and ugly, and unmanageable. Though you might enjoy the beautiful moments that bloom from it every year, the love might kill itself with its growth in the future (just as an overgrown rose may invite a series of fungal infestations if it goes unchecked).
Some cultures embrace the difficulty of growing roses. The Damask rose (deemed the most fragrant and often the most sought) is grown in the humid Valley of Roses in Bulgaria. They are picked one by one and placed in willow baskets every morning before dawn, later becoming the attar of roses through an arduous and expensive process in which 2kg of petals make 1 mL of oil.
(Some cultures, on the other hand, have bred out the thorns entirely, like Bourbon roses).
This might explain the story of the rose and the nightingale. In this context, it represents a love that one would sacrifice everything for. The iconography and symbolism became world-renowned, and in Persia, depictions of the two lovers became so prevalent that, by the Qajar Dynasty (1794-1925), they began to define the nation. Gulistan, it was called, the Country Rose (Iran, the Land of Roses and Nightingales).
Yet, it’s hard to wholeheartedly stamp the label of a love story on a relationship so drenched in tragedy.
Human Physiology in the Symbolism of Love
A separate association between roses and love might have come from the plant’s phenolic acids. Phenolic acids are chemicals that serve a plant’s growth and defence system (usually as a complex set of compounds), but they also allegedly make people more attractive and increase libido, being used as an aphrodisiac in several cultures.
Why?
Many phenolic acids are antioxidants (they protect cells against damage from reactions caused by the volatility of oxygen molecules). Cosmetic businesses worldwide tout antioxidants for their purported ability to make someone look more attractive (protecting skin cells and improving skin quality). This, along with flavonoids and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), reduces inflammation, improves immune functioning, and clears cardiovascular issues to increase blood flow. In other words, roses can help improve headaches, reduce cholesterol, heal certain coughs and allergic symptoms, and ease digestive issues (as a mild laxative) or menstrual discomfort (in some cases, it was even studied for its potential ability to inhibit amyloid β (Aβ) and slow down symptoms of dementia and epilepsy).
Likewise, the rose is classified as a hypnotic: some studies suggest chemicals in the rose react with the brain like a relaxant, relieving some symptoms related to depression, stress, and tension, while facilitating sleep in much the same way as sleeping medication. This physical relaxation might sound contradictory to the passion associated with the red rose (especially in the story regarding the nightingale), but a state of mental relaxation and physical fitness is believed to improve performance, which might have led to the plant’s association with romance.
Rose Symbolism Across Cultures
Fertility & War
Whatever the case, roses are globally associated with the idea of love, marriage, and fertility. For example, In Armenia, the rose was associated with the goddess of fertility and war, Anahit (or the Canaanite goddess Anahita), and in Ancient Egypt, it’s associated with Isis, the goddess of fertility and chaos. Greco-Roman culture not only associated the rose with the goddess of love, Aphrodite/Venus (bursting from her feet as she landed from the sea), but the god of lust and desire, Eros/Cupid, which likely led to its use in the celebration in the Roman spring festival Lupercalia (a supposed prelude to Valentine’s Day between February 13 and 15), which celebrates Juno (marriage and love) and Pan (spring and lust). In India, the protector (Vishnu) and creator (Brahma) speculate which of the flowers is most superior, and Brahma creates a rose bush from which Vishnu’s Wife Lakshmi (fortune and prosperity) emerges.
Fun fact: Although the rose is thought to have originated from Central Asia, the oldest variety of rose currently belongs to the most romantic country in the world; it’s called the French Rose (Rosa gallica).
Outside the realm of mythology, roses were also used in history to invoke the same themes.
In Ancient Egypt, Cleopatra famously won over Marc Antony’s love in a rose-filled room [[]][[ https://cveti.by/en/stati-o-tsvetah-i-buketah/roza-istoria-legendi-mifi.html]], and Shakespeare used the iconography of the rose most extensively in the most famous romance, Romeo and Juliet.
Victorian England was a highly romantic period, where romance was not to be uttered with a medium so clumsy as words. Instead, there was the language of flowers, floriography (In floriography, you could reject people with the placement of a given flower over the bosom rather than the heart, or by returning the favor using the left hand rather than the right). The practice of using roses in floriography to express romance apparently came from Greco-Roman culture, where it was said Eros/Cupid bribed Harpocrates, the Egyptian-based god of silence, to keep quiet Aphrodite’s influence over the gods. And in this culture, roses adorned the ceilings of rooms where secrets were uttered and held. For the same reason, the rose was interpreted to denote secret debauchery during Christian times.
In Sufi mysticism, the rose represented the secrets of the divine, which the human spirit (the nightingale) yearns.
War and Patriotism
“Romance” might detail the love between two individuals, but it might just as easily symbolize an individual’s love for their country. In Persia, for example, the nightingale and rose became rather patriotic symbols, though it’s unclear whether the ancient Persians represented the nightingale, sacrificing themselves for the rose.
This association is hardly localized. The rose represents both bravery and patriotism in Rome and Cyprus morality, it was awarded to citizens for outstanding acts, as they believed the Rose gave courage and fearlessness.
In England, the War of Roses was a civil battle between two states that were both, perhaps ironically, adorned with the symbol of a rose, and the combination of these two roses has become an icon of the united country (similar unity might be signified about the East and West worlds through the wide hybridization of roses that give us the diversity we know today).
Perhaps a similar association with patriotism has led to the popularity of “rose festivals” in countries like Azerbaijan (with the Pomegranate and Rose Festival), Bhutan, Brunei, China, and Cyprus, celebrating local heritage and community connections.
Community and Nobility
On a different note, roses were associated with nobility in countries like Cambodia, Japan, and both halves of Korea.
This is fitting not only because many countries regard the rose as the “queen of flowers” but because roses are notoriously expensive, due to their low oil content and arduous care routines (as mentioned before).
In contrast, places like Georgia, however, the rose might symbolize the love of the people, demonstrating hospitality toward guests.
Death & mourning
So far, most of these associations can fit into modern conceptions of love and romance. After all, people can love their communities, but love can elevate and differentiate certain people or groups.
But there’s a distinctly tragic tone to the rose’s symbolism that complicates this narrative.
In Persia, the rose is the product of mourning and the cause of death; Georgia has a similar story of a rose sprouting from the tears of a young woman, and in Greece, Aphrodite cuts herself on the thorns of roses while running to her dying lover, Adonis, staining her white roses red. While the painting of roses is a lot less violent in Alice in Wonderland, the themes of bloodlust emerge later in the story through the Queen of Hearts’ predilection for execution.
In fact, in ancient Rome, Rosaria was a festival meant to honor their dead. In its mythology, Chloris (Flora, in Greek mythology), the goddess of flowers, finds one of her nymphs dead in the woods, and, in her grief, she turns her into what she envisions will be the Queen of flowers— after transforming the nymph into a pink flower, she called on the gods to gift her beauty (from Aphrodite), perfume (Dionysus), and thorns (Mars). Other versions of the rose’s origin myth discard the notion of love entirely, such as in the story where Rhodanthe was so burdened by courtship that Artemis/Diana transformed her into a rose.
These are not stories of love or sacrifice, but simply tragedy.
The rose doesn’t always symbolize beauty, either. In stories of the Prophet Mohammed, the yellowed rose was associated with his wife Aisha’s infidelity. Its associated goddess Anahit (or the Canaanite goddess Anat), isn’t just the goddess of fertility, but the goddess of war, associated with the Greek hunting goddess Artemis rather than the love goddess Aphrodite (Aphrodite’s own Roman counterpart Venus is associated with both love and war); likewise, Isis is the goddess of chaos. Love is fundamentally entwined with turmoil in the myths involving the rose.
So, even though people might say roses are simply a symbol of transient beauty and love, the stories say otherwise.
Then what does it symbolize?
Rose Color Symbolism
Perhaps it would be easier to understand rose symbolism if we, in the true spirit of social justice, see past color.
Or, more specifically, if we look past the symbolism of the red rose. Because in floriography, different colors often alter the meaning of flowers as dramatically as tone alters language, but there’s an underlying definition that might remain the same.
If you know anything about floriography, you might have heard there are different roses for different occasions. Red roses for courtship, white roses for weddings, pink roses for gratitude, black roses for death.
This is the chart mapped out by color:
| Colour | Flower meaning | General color associations | |
| White | Innocence, purity, hope (Weddings, new beginnings) | Innocence, purity, hope | |
| Pink | Gratitude, friendship, happiness (Thank you present, gift) | Love, compassion, nurture | |
| Lavender | Enchantment, adoration | Pride, admiration, royalty | |
| Red | True love, desire, remembrance | Love, hate, pleasure, rage, sacrifice | |
| Orange | Passion | Optimism, enthusiasm | |
| Yellow | Friendship, apology, jealous | Hope, betrayal, happiness, cowardice | |
| Green | Hope, Rejuvenation, envy (Bay showers) | Growth, relief, envy, harmony | |
| Blue | Mystery, rarity | Stability, wisdom | |
| Black | Death | Darkness, fear, evil, death |
Anyone with an illustration background (or at least terrorized an art student) will have already realized that the color association made with roses is almost the same as the general color associations made on the color wheel. Surveys of these associations have been done globally to find general associations often remained the same, with the variance of certain cultural associations (for example, in China, red might still be associated with love, but it is also more strongly associated with luck than it is in Western cultures) and gender differences. This may seem obvious at first. Of course, the color association will translate over to flowers and bouquets; because flower bouquets often follow the rules of artistic color matching, the meaning associated with the color often refers to an amalgamation of flowers anyway.
And yet there’s something that underlies all of these differently coloured roses.
What the Rose Actually Symbolizes
Emotion and empathy.
The rose—with its cultural history, its aesthetic evocation, its physical effects on the body— is expressing something words can often fail to describe, and can invoke the mind and the body in a way that words often fail to. Thus, the rose is used in settings where people are vulnerable. It adorns hotel bedrooms, it cleanses religious houses, it diffuses the home. It’s used to signify the deepest parts of us, from our souls to our deities to our belief.
Often, the growth of roses signifies the growth of the soul, which may have led to the rose’s symbolization of adaptation and resilience in Afghanistan, during its project, “Roses for Nangarhar,” the movement to switch opium poppies to Damask roses, or in Cyprus in the poem, “Roses of Bethlehem.”
Yet, similarly, the rose touches on the fears and pain that come with opening up to others, and often directly conflicting others. Poetically speaking (discounting that it was a real civil war in history), the War of Roses was the perfect symbol of the two states emblazened by the same purpose and ambition for saving their own country. Perhaps this seems like a minor discrepancy, as the sentiment when giving roses remains the same. However, just as its impossible to parse the meaning of the rose from the flower itself (demonstrated in Gertrude Stein’s Sacred Emily with the line, “a rose is a rose is a rose”), it’s just as impossible to extricate the word “love” from the full and often detrimental embodiment of the rose, and its the full meaning of the flower that makes it beautiful. In a world where it feels impossible to express how you feel without getting convoluted by the details, it helps to talk in the abstract, it helps to use symbols. Symbols can be misinterpreted, but the concept of misinterpretation becomes obvious, and therefore we run along deeper lines of meaning to try to capture each others’ essence.
Why Roses Still Matter to Modern Gardeners
Often, roses can be quite a surface-level plant. It’s a beautiful and fragrant plant to have in the garden. It can be given to a loved one as a simple token of love.
However, because of its history, the plant is layered with a lot of meaningful reminders of human relationships. Roses aren’t an easy plant to care for, and maybe that’s part of the point—relationships are not something that should be easy, or taken lightly. Every close interaction you have with someone can be intensely vulnerable and dangerous, and costs a lot of emotional labor to maintain. These things are not fixed, they continue to grow and adapt and change, and it takes a kind of resilience to choose to come back to the plot again and again and again. Yet, when this is done correctly, both in the context of growing roses and of holding onto another person, the results are rewarding enough to last lifetimes, to cross global narratives, and create meaningful connections that truly touch what it means to be human.
