Amazon.com description: Product Description: "A rosarian of international renown, Harkness brings an ardent proclivity for the queen of flowers to a fascinating effort bolstered by the lyrical beauty of rare artworks." -Booklist

Roses are treasured for many reasons: their enchanting beauty and sweet fragrance, their fascinating history, their value as the most versatile of garden plants, their symbolic power. The quest to create roses, and the flowers that have resulted, are the subjects of this splendid book. It charts rose culture from its ancient origins through the horticulture of the 19th century to hybrid breeding in modern times.

In addition, this beautiful volume presents some of the most sublime rose specimens ever created, drawn and painted by renowned botanical artists such as Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Henry Andrews, and John Lindley. The captivating illustrations are from the Royal Horticultural Society, home to one of the world's finest archives of horticultural art. This spectacular volume of roses of every description, also in a reduced format with an incredibly affordable price, is certain to capture the hearts of gardeners and art lovers alike. AUTHOR BIO: Peter Harkness is the author of Modern Garden Roses, The Photographic Encyclopædia of Roses, and Roses to Enjoy. He has edited The Rose Magazine and has contributed to the Royal Horticultural Society Roses Plant Guide.

The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 by John Wedgwood and Sir Joseph Banks. It led the way in sending collectors around the world in search of new plant species, and fostered domestic cultivation of many varieties we know and love today. The society's Lindley Library is considered one of the world's finest horticultural archives, containing more than 250,000 paintings, illustrations, and rare books.