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Ornamental plants

Main article: Garden roses

The majority of ornamental roses are hybrids that were bred for their flowers. A few, mostly species roses are grown for attractive or scented foliage (such as Rosa glauca and Rosa rubiginosa), ornamental thorns (such as Rosa sericea) or for their showy fruit (such as Rosa moyesii).

Hybrid tea rose cultivar 'Mrs. Herbert Stevens'

Ornamental roses have been cultivated for millennia, with the earliest known cultivation known to date from at least 500 BC in Mediterranean countries, Persia, and China.^[5] Many thousands of rose hybrids and cultivars have been bred and selected for garden use as flowering plants. Most are double-flowered with many or all of the stamens having mutated into additional petals.

In the early 19th century the Empress Josephine of France patronized the development of rose breeding at her gardens at Malmaison. As long ago as 1840 a collection numbering over one thousand different cultivars, varieties and species was possible when a rosarium was planted by Loddiges nursery for Abney Park Cemetery, an early Victorian garden cemetery and arboretum in England.

Cut flowers

Bouquet of pink roses

Roses are a popular crop for both domestic and commercial cut flowers. Generally they are harvested and cut when in bud, and held in refrigerated conditions until ready for display at their point of sale.

In temperate climates, cut roses are often grown in glasshouses, and in warmer countries they may also be grown under cover in order to ensure that the flowers are not damaged by weather and that pest and disease control can be carried out effectively. Significant quantities are grown in some tropical countries, and these are shipped by air to markets across the world.^[6]

Some kind of roses are artificially coloured using dyed water, like rainbow roses.

Perfume

Main articles: Rose oil and Rose water

Rose perfumes are made from rose oil (also called attar of roses), which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam distilling the crushed petals of roses. An associated product is rose water which is used for cooking, cosmetics, medicine and religious practices. The production technique originated in Persia and then spread through Arabia and India, and more recently into eastern Europe. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses (Rosa × damascena 'Trigintipetala') are used. In other parts of the world Rosa × centifolia is commonly used. The oil is transparent pale yellow or yellow-grey in colour. 'Rose Absolute' is solvent-extracted with hexane and produces a darker oil, dark yellow to orange in colour. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about two thousand flowers are required to produce one gram of oil.

Geraniol (C₁₀H₁₈O)

The main constituents of attar of roses are the fragrant alcohols geraniol and l-citronellol and rose camphor, an odorless solid composed of alkanes, which separates from rose oil.^[7] β-Damascenone is also a significant contributor to the scent.

Food and drink

See also: Rose hip

Rose hips are occasionally made into jam, jelly, marmalade, and soup or are brewed for tea, primarily for their high vitamin C content. They are also pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup. Rose hips are also used to produce rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products and some makeup products. ^[8]

Rosa canina hips

Rose water has a very distinctive flavour and is used heavily in Middle Eastern, Persian, and South Asian cuisine—especially in sweets such as barfi, baklava, halva, gulab jamun, gumdrops, kanafeh, nougat, and Turkish delight.

Gulab jamun made with rose water

Rose petals or flower buds are sometimes used to flavour ordinary tea, or combined with other herbs to make herbal teas.

In France, there is much use of rose syrup, most commonly made from an extract of rose petals. In the Indian subcontinent, Rooh Afza (a concentrated squash made with roses) is popular, as are rose-flavoured frozen desserts such as ice cream and kulfi.^[9][10]

Rose flowers are used as food, also usually as flavouring or to add their scent to food.^[11] Other minor uses include candied rose petals.^[12]

Rose creams (rose-flavoured fondant covered in chocolate, often topped with a crystallised rose petal) are a traditional English confectionery widely available from numerous producers in the UK.

Under the American Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,^[13] there are only certain Rosa species, varieties, and parts are on the Generally Recognized as Safe lists.

• Rose absolute: Rosa alba L., Rosa centifolia L., Rosa damascena Mill., Rosa gallica L., and vars. of these spp.
• Rose (otto of roses, attar of roses): Ditto
• Rose buds: Ditto
• Rose flowers: Ditto
• Rose fruit (hips):Ditto
• Rose leaves: Rosa spp.^[14]