The varieties of roses that we admire today are products of the ongoing, meticulous process of plant hybridization, a breeding technique in which two parents are artificially crossed to create offspring with desired characteristics.
Early rose hybridization
One hundred fifty wild species of roses and a staggering 30,000 cultivated varieties exist today. All these cultivars originated from crossing and recrossing Asian roses with native European and American species over many centuries, leading to a long, fascinating, and highly complex history.
Dutch horticulturists pioneered during the 15th and 16th centuries the first systematic plant hybridization in the West by crossing wild species of roses that bloom only once a year. They bred and altered the Damask rose, Rosa × damascena, and the Cabbage rose (Rosa × centifolia) in the late 1600s. Modern research reveals that at least four species of wild roses are evident in the DNA of Rosa × centifolia. Only about 12 wild roses were used as parents in those early crosses, which resulted in less than 100 new varieties before 1800. (Today, most rose breeders are still located in Holland.)
In the 1700s and 1800s, two repeat-flowering roses, the China rose (Rosa chinensis) and Manipur Wild Tea rose (Rosa gigantea), were introduced to Europe. These roses had been cultivated in China since ancient times, and European botanists were thrilled to have roses that bloom from spring to fall. They crossed the two plants, and the resulting hybrids, known for their sweet fragrance, were named "tea roses" after the aroma of Chinese tea.
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