Rose

The damask rose is one of the old garden roses, a shrub from Asia Minor whose flowers have been grown for their scent for a very long time. I drew open roses and rosebuds together with their leaves, so that the plate holds two stages of the same flower side by side. This rose print follows Rosa damascena in the manner of a botanical illustration, from the layered petals of the open bloom to the closed bud that has not yet shown its colour.

In shortRosa damascena, the damask rose, is a fragrant old garden shrub from Asia Minor and the rose behind the best-known rose oil. It is generally treated as a natural hybrid. The plate shows open roses, rosebuds and detailed leaves.

Key Facts

Which rose is the damask rose?

The damask rose is Rosa damascena, a fragrant shrub of old gardens that grows to about 2 m. Its leaves carry usually five or seven leaflets, ovate to elliptic, hairless above and downy beneath. The stems have large, curved prickles. The flowers are semi-double, borne in clusters in summer, and some forms flower again in autumn.

Botanic gardens describe it as a natural hybrid of Rosa gallica and Rosa moschata, with an origin in Asia Minor. It belongs to the group called Old Garden roses, which were grown long before the repeat-flowering modern roses were bred. The fruit is a top-shaped hip, bristly on the surface, which follows the flower in autumn. Cornell Botanic Gardens describes the damask rose of Kazanlak as having about thirty soft, deep pink petals on a flower roughly 5 cm across, hardy to USDA zone 4.

How is a rose built?

A rose is built in layers. The petals spiral outward around a central cluster of golden stamens, and a double rose adds more rows of petals in place of stamens. Below the flower the fruit forms as a hip. The leaves are compound, which means each leaf is divided into several leaflets on a shared stalk.

What gardeners call thorns are botanically prickles, outgrowths of the surface of the stem. A bud is the flower before it opens, closed in green sepals that peel back as the petals unfold. Seeing a bud and an open flower together shows the whole sequence from bud to bloom, which is the reason botanical artists so often draw them as a pair.

Why is the damask rose used for rose oil?

The damask rose is the classic source of rose oil because its flowers are strongly fragrant. The oil, known as attar of roses, is distilled from damask roses grown in places such as Kazanlak in Bulgaria. Rose oil is among the most costly ingredients in perfumery, because a very large weight of petals is needed for a small amount of oil.

Rose water, made from the same flowers, flavours sweets in Middle Eastern and Indian cooking. The rose also carries a language of its own. The phrase sub rosa, meaning in confidence, comes from the old custom of hanging a rose over a meeting to signal secrecy. Scent is the quality that separates old roses from many modern ones. Several modern Hybrid Teas were bred for the shape of the flower at the expense of fragrance, and some have little scent at all.

How long have roses been grown in gardens?

Roses have been grown in gardens for thousands of years. The genus Rosa contains more than 300 wild species and thousands of cultivated varieties, in every colour except true blue. Rose cultivation was already established in ancient China, and medieval monastery gardens helped to keep it alive in Europe.

A turning point came in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when European breeders gained access to Chinese and tea roses that bloomed repeatedly through the season. Crossing them with hardy, fragrant European roses produced the modern hybrids. The full story is told in the article on the history of roses.

Drawing the rose

The plate shows open roses and rosebuds with detailed leaves, set against a light beige ground. Putting open flowers and buds in the same picture shows the rose at more than one stage, which a single bloom cannot do. The leaves are drawn with the same attention as the flowers, because the foliage is as much a part of the plant as the petals.

A photograph of a rose is usually a photograph of one moment, with the petals blown out by light and the leaves left soft. A hand-drawn digital illustration can hold the edge of each petal and the outline of each leaf at the same level of detail. Botanical artists have used the rose as a benchmark for centuries, because its layered form is hard to draw well, and each petal must sit in front of or behind its neighbours convincingly. The article on rose botanical art looks at why that is.

Where does a rose print work on a wall?

A rose print suits a bedroom, a dining room, a hallway or a quiet corner of a living room. It is a classic subject, so it fits both traditional interiors and plain modern ones. A white or pale frame keeps it light, and a dark wood frame suits a dining room or a library. The roses and buds give the eye plenty to follow at close range, which makes it a good choice for a hallway or landing where people pass slowly. It belongs to the Garden collection. In the photograph below, the rose print stands on a white shelf between two white vases. For hotels and serviced apartments, the studio plans the rose within wider hospitality projects.

Fine-art print →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many species of rose are there?

The genus Rosa has more than 300 wild species. Gardeners have bred thousands of cultivated varieties from them, from simple single flowers to full doubles, in colours from white to deep crimson. Only a true blue has so far been out of reach.

What do the colours of roses mean?

Red stands for romantic love, white for purity and remembrance, pink for gratitude and grace, and yellow for friendship. These meanings come from the Victorian language of flowers and are cultural, not botanical. The rose as a whole is the most widely understood flower symbol.

Are rose thorns really thorns?

Botanically, no. The sharp points on a rose stem are prickles, outgrowths of the surface of the stem. True thorns are modified branches. The difference matters little in the garden, but it is the kind of detail a botanical illustration is expected to get right.

Is there such a thing as a blue rose?

Not a true one. Roses can be bred in every colour except true blue, because they lack the pigment needed to make it. Roses sold as blue are lilac or mauve, or are coloured by dye. Breeding continues, so the situation may change.

How is this print made, and how does it reach me?

There are two formats. The digital download is a high-resolution file that you print yourself, at home or at a print shop; no physical item is shipped. The fine-art print is printed to order on archival paper or canvas, framed or unframed, in sizes from small prints to over 150 cm (60 inches), and delivered to your door.