ThefirsttrueprimaryredroseseeninEuropewas「Slater』sCrimsonChina」introducedin1792fromChina,whereithadbeengrowingwildinthemountains.Immediately,rosebreedersbeganusingittohybridizeredrosesforcultivation.Eversince,thequestfortheperfectredrosehasbeentheHolyGrailofrosarians:afragrant,disease-resistant,long-lasting,long-stemmed,reblooming,perfectlyformedrosewithaclearnon-fadingvividredcolor.Absoluteperfectionstillhasn』tbeenattained,andofcourseneverwill!
Thereisaspecialroselanguageinventedasasecretmeansofcommunicationbetweenloverswhowerenotallowedtoexpresstheirloveforoneanotheropenly.Inthemid18thcenturythewifeoftheBritishambassadorinConstantinopledescribedthisinherletters,whichwerepublishedafterherdeath.Theselettersinspiredmanybooksonthelanguageofflowers,eachdescribingthesecretmessagehiddenineachflower.Aredrosebudstandsforbuddingdesire.Anopenwhiteroseasks「Willyouloveme?」Anopenredrosemeans「I』mfullofloveanddesire,」whileanopenyellowroseasks「Don』tyoulovemeanymore?」
人類有史以來就鍾情於玫瑰。據說，克婁巴特拉的宮殿的地面就鋪滿了嬌嫩的玫瑰花瓣，博學的孔子有600冊藏書專門講述如何培育玫瑰。
玫瑰本身就是一個傳說。在羅馬帝國時代，有一個名叫羅丹斯的美麗絕倫的少女。她的麗姿引來了無數狂熱的求婚者鍥而不捨地追求她。羅丹斯實在招架不住了，不得不到朋友狄安娜的神廟裡躲避她的求婚者。不幸的是，狄安娜產生了嫉妒之心。當求婚者衝進了神廟的大門，要接近他們所愛戀著的羅丹斯時，狄安娜一怒之下將羅丹斯變成了一枝玫瑰花，將她的求婚者變成了花刺。
在希臘傳說中，玫瑰是希臘花神克羅斯創造的。當初玫瑰只是林中一個仙女的尚無生命的一粒種子。一天，花神克羅斯偶然在森林的一塊空地上發現了它。克羅斯請求愛神阿佛洛狄特賦予了它美麗的容貌；讓酒神狄俄尼索斯澆灑了神酒，使它擁有了芬芳的氣味。又有美惠三女神將魅力、聰穎和歡樂賜予了它。隨後，西風之神吹散了雲朵，太陽神阿波羅得以照耀它並使它開花。玫瑰就這樣誕生了，並立即被封為花中之皇后。
歐洲見到的第一枝真正的原色紅玫瑰叫做「斯萊特中國深紅」，於1792年從中國引進。當時，它一直生長在中國山區的野地裡。玫瑰培育者馬上開始用它進行雜交種植。從此，尋求完美的紅玫瑰一直是玫瑰栽培者所追求的理想。這種玫瑰應具有芳香的氣味、抵禦疾病的能力、持久的花期、修長的花莖、反覆開花的本領、優美的體態以及不褪色的純鮮紅顏色。然而，絕對的完美卻始終未達到，當然也永遠無法達到！
人們發明了一種特殊的玫瑰語言，作為不被允許公開示愛的情侶間秘密交流的方式。18世紀中期，英國駐君士坦丁堡大使的夫人在信中對此做了描述。這些信件在她死後出版，激發了許許多多關於花草語言書籍的問世，每一本書都對每種花所隱藏的信息進行了描述。一朵紅玫瑰花蕾代表萌發中的情慾；一枝盛開的白玫瑰則是在探問：「你會愛我嗎？」一枝綻開的紅玫瑰的含義是：「我對你滿懷著愛意和渴望」，而一枝開放的黃玫瑰則是在詢問：「你是不是不再愛我了？」
TheRedRibbon紅絲帶
Everyonewantsaredribbon.Red.Firstplace.Thebest.Evenkindergartenerswantthatredribbon.Insports,Iwasneverared-ribbonperson.InaraceIwasalwayslast.InbaseballIwasaslikelytogethitontheheadastodroptheball.InbasketballIwasfineaslongasthereweren』tnineotherplayersonthecourtwithme.WhereIgotmyhorriblesportsability,Idon』tknow,butIgotit.AndIgotitearly.
Duringthespringofmykindergartenyear,ourclasshadafieldtriptoaparkinatownabout20milesaway.Makingthatdrivenowisnobigdeal,butwhenyou』resixandyou』velivedinatownof300allyourlife,goingtoatownofacouplethousandisaverybigdeal.Nonetheless,lookingbacknow,Idon』tremembermuchofthatday.I』msureweateourlittlesacklunches,playedontheswings,sliddowntheslide—typicalsix-year-oldstuff.Thenitwastimefortheraces.
Thesenoordinaryraces.Someparenthadcomeupwiththeideatohavethepicnickindofraces,likepassthepotatounderyourneckandholdaneggonaspoonwhileyouruntotheotherside.Idon』tremembertoomuchaboutthese,buttherewasoneracethatwillforeverbelodgedinmymemory—thethree-leggedrace.
Theparentsdecidednottousepotatosacksforthisparticularrace.Instead,theytiedourfeettogether.Oneluckylittleboygotmeforapartner.Nowwhatyouhavetoknowaboutthislittleboyisthathewasthesecondmostathleticboyinourclass.I』msureheknewhewasintroublethesecondtheylacedhisfoottomine.Asforme,Iwasmortified.Thisguywasawinner.Healmostalwayswon,andIknewthat,withme,hedidn』thaveachance.
However,apparentlyhedidn』trealizethatasdeeplyasIdidatthetime.Helacedhisarmwithmine,thegunsounded,andwewereofftotheotherside.Coupleswerefallingandstumblingallaroundus,butwestayedonourfeetandmadeittotheotherside.
Unbelievablywhenweturnedaroundandheadedbackforhome,wewereinthelead!Onlyoneothercoupleevenhadachance,andtheywereagoodseveralyardsbehindus.
Thenonlyfeetfromthefinishline,disasterstruck.Itrippedandfell.Wewerecloseenoughthatmypartnercouldhaveeasilydraggedmeacrossthefinishlineandwon.Hecouldhave,buthedidn』t.Instead,hestopped,reacheddown,andhelpedmeup—justastheothercouplecrossedthefinishline.
Istillrememberthatmoment,andIstillhavethatlittleredribbon.Whenwegraduated13yearslater,IstoodonthatstageandgavetheValedictoryaddresstothatsamegroupofstudents,noneofwhomevenrememberedthatmomentanymore.So,Itoldthemaboutthatlittleboywhohadmadeasplit-seconddecisionthathelpingafriendupwasmoreimportantthanwinningaredribbon.InmyspeechItoldthemthatIwouldn』ttellwhichoftheguyssittingthereonthatstagewasthelittleboyalthoughhewasuptherewithme.Iwouldn』ttellbecauseintruthatonetimeoranotherallofthemhadbeenthatlittleboy—helpingmeupwhenIfell,takingtimeoutfromtheirpursuitoftheirowngoalstohelpafellowpersoninneed.