Today, April 29, is National Peace Rose Day, and we honour and celebrate this hybrid tea rose. These yellow or cream-colored blossoms have crimson-pink-tinged petal edges. Not only are they attractive, but they are also resilient, vigorous, and disease-resistant.
The background of National Peace Rose Day
French horticulturist Francis Meilland created the Peace rose by combining a hybrid tea rose known as the Margaret McGredy rose with another seedling. He named the rose after his late mother, Madame A. Meilland.
Before the German invasion of France, however, Meilland sent cuttings of the rose to his friends in Italy, Turkey, and the United States in order to preserve the new flower. In these various countries, the rose was assigned different names. In France, the rose’s official name remains “Madame A. Meilland” in honour of the breeder’s mother. It was given the Italian appellation ‘Gioia,’ which means ‘joy.’ In Germany, it was known as ‘Gloria Dei,’ which translates to ‘glory to God.’ In America, it was known as the Peace rose.
In 1945, Robert Pyle of the Conard Pyle Company in Pennsylvania, United States, gave it its American name. Pyle cultivated the rose and sent samples to the American Rose Society for evaluation while the war raged in Europe. After Germany’s withdrawal from France, he contacted Meilland to inform him that the rose would be introduced to the American public as the conflict came to a close. Pyle gave the rose the name ‘harmony’ in honour of the impending global harmony. In honour of Germany’s surrender, these roses were given to each delegate at the first United Nations meeting in 1945.
Since then, National Peace Rose Day has been observed to commemorate the day this rose was given its American name and symbolism.
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5 ROSE FACTS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND
It is believed that the world’s oldest rose is one thousand years old and flourishes on the Cathedral of Hildesheim in Germany.
Juliet, a rose cultivar created in 2006 by renowned rose breeder David Austin, is the most expensive rose in the world, and its cultivation cost $5 million.
In general, roses can grow quite tall, and the highest rose ever recorded is over 23 feet in height.
Roses are known to have a lengthy lifespan, and curiously, fossils of roses dating back 35 million years have been discovered.
While roses are available in a variety of colours, there are no black roses, and any roses that appear black are actually dark red.
NATIONAL PEACE ROSE DAY DATES
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | April 29 | Saturday |
| 2024 | April 29 | Monday |
| 2025 | April 29 | Tuesday |
| 2026 | April 29 | Wednesday |
| 2027 | April 29 | Thursday |
