With Valentine’s day just around the corner – and it’s own interesting links to Greek (geek!) mythology – let us delve into the world of roses.

Rose Facts

Did you know:

• The oldest rose fossils are at least 35 million years old? (found in Colorado)
• The oldest still living rose (bush) is the ‘thousand-year-rose’ of Hildesheim (‘home of Hulda’), in Germany?
• It’s origin myth connects it with the Virgin Mary as well as the Saxon Goddess Hulda/Frau Holle?
• The oldest representation of a rose is a famous fresco (the blue bird) in the palace of Minos in Knossos, Crete?
• The rose played a prominent part in Greek, Roman, and Middle-Eastern mythology?
• No exact information has yet been obtained about the first cultivation of rose? (It seems that Greece, Rome, Middle East, and China have been cultivating roses from the ancient time though)
• All roses are edible? (non-sprayed/non-fertilized ones, that is -> if you want to try them, be sure to follow this advice!)

Well.. now you do!

What new things have you learned this week?