A Dipped Rose

A dipped rose is made from a real flower that goes on to be preserved and covered in gold, silver, or platinum. It can be purchased with its blooms fully open or closed and includes the stem and leaves. Different colors of dipped roses can also be chosen if the coloring of gold, silver, and platinum isn't of interest to you.

While there are many species of roses, there are some which are more well known than others; the Damask rose, the China rose, and the Tea rose.

Damask roses were developed in Asia from the hybridization between Rosa Gallica and Rosa Phoenicia. They were first distributed through Syria, the Near East, and Middle East. According to tradition, it was the Crusaders who were responsible for bringing it to Europe from Damascus (hence its name) in 1254. Despite that, there is a still a veil of mystery that surrounds the true history of this rose. There are references in the 1820s to the “common Damask,” but it's unclear what the author at the time was really referring to. Damask roses are considered the original old fashioned rose and can still be found growing in the wild today around Morocco, the Middle East, Andalusia, and Caucasus.

Long before the western world knew anything about China roses, they were being grown in Chinese gardens. They are bred from Rosa chinensis and as to when they made their first appearance in the west is under dispute; Sweden, Italy, and Britain, all claim to have had them first. Commerce of both a red China rose and a pink one began in the West in 1790s with breeding getting under way very quickly in both France and Italy. China roses became popular fast thanks to their continuous bloom in addition to a fascination for all things Asian at the time. Their worst trait is their lack of hardiness to the cold. China roses make bushy plants that range in color from deep red and maroon to pink and white. Those that have been hybridized with Tea roses are also yellow, salmon, orange, and saffron in color.

Tea roses get their name from the scent of their blossoms which has been described as “a newly opened sample of the choicest tea.” While their ancestry is not certain, they are  supposed to have been created from Rosa Chinenisa x and Rosa gigantea. The first two cultivars of Tea roses was introduced to the West by Britain in 1810 and 1824. Not long after, the French began to hybridize them. To many rose experts, Tea roses have the most exquisite color and form compared to all rose species in existence.

When the French hybridized them however, they came across bushes which produced blossoms that were very weak and which were easily damaged depending on the weather. As a result, some people took to growing them as greenhouse plants while still others tried to improve the altogether by cross breeding them. There were some interesting results produced including the Bourbon rose which turned out to be large, thick-limbed shrubs (unlike its predecessor) that had very healthy and beautiful foliage.

Since fresh cut roses only last a few days at best, a dipped rose offers the choice of having them forever. While you have to wait around for spring and summer for the next blooms of roses to take place, a dipped rose will be in 'bloom' for a lifetime.

Sophia Grace is a collector of gold dipped rose gifts. You can view a huge selection of gold dipped roses at Plated Gold Roses.