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The Rose by Jennifer Potter

The Rose

Jennifer Potter

Atlantic Books · Hardcover · May 1, 2011

For fans of Anna Pavord's The Tulip and Andrea Wulf's The Brothers Gardener, a vividly written and lavishly illustrated history of the Queen of Flowers Ever since Sappho planted roses at the shrine of Aphrodite, no flower has captured the imagination in quite the same way.

Social HistoryGrowing RosesFlowers
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Who it’s for
Jennifer Potter traces the rose across centuries, cultures, empires, and gardens, from briar to cultivated flower.
Themes
History of roses, Cultural symbolism of flowers, Horticultural history
Genres
Growing Roses, Social History, Flowers

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About this book

For fans of Anna Pavord's The Tulip and Andrea Wulf's The Brothers Gardener, a vividly written and lavishly illustrated history of the Queen of Flowers Ever since Sappho planted roses at the shrine of Aphrodite, no flower has captured the imagination in quite the same way.

Continue reading

Here, the acclaimed horticultural historian Jennifer Potter sets out on a quest to uncover the life of a flower that has been viewed so hetrogenously by different cultures in different countries across the centuries. Beginning her story in the Greek and Roman empires, she travels across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas to unravel its evolution from a simple briar of the northern hemisphere to the height of cultivated perfection found in rose gardens today. Whether laying bare the flower's long association with sexuality and secret societies, questioning the Crusaders' role in bringing roses back from the Holy Land, or hunting for its elusive blooms in the gardens of the Empress Josephine at Malmaison, Jennifer Potter reveals why this flower, above all others, has provoked such fascination.

The Rose Across Cultures

Jennifer Potter traces the rose across centuries, cultures, empires, and gardens, from briar to cultivated flower.

Come here for

  • Rose histories across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas
  • The flower’s associations with sexuality and secret societies

Expect

  • Its history begins in the Greek and Roman empires
  • Questions about Crusaders and roses returning from the Holy Land

Where it sits

Growing Roses88%
Flowers62%
Social History60%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Growing Roses
  • Social History
Authors
Jennifer Potter
Publisher
Atlantic Books
Published
May 1, 2011
Format
Hardcover
Theme
History of roses · Cultural symbolism of flowers · Horticultural history
Reading lane
Growing Roses