Roses of Szőreg

Roses of Szőreg

„My flower . . . I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so naive! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world . ” (Antoine de Saint Exupéry: The Little Prince)

By Szegedi Értékek / 2015. November 19.

Growing of the rose of Szőreg has more than one hundred years long past and unique traditions in Hungary. Growing roses need a lot of work and special knowledge and it is done by family farms with more generations.

The traditions of growing and the special knowledge are transmitted from generation to generation in Szőreg. Growing of 4-5 million rose-trees in a year shows the high proficiency of the farmers of Szőreg,

Did you know?

In BC 500, roses were improved in China and Greece.
It was the most popular ornamental plant in the Roman Empire, later, its luxury was refused by Christianity, thus it was found only in cloister garths as a herb.
Cleopatra, the famous Pharaoh of Egypt used rose-water and rose oil in order to seduce men.
One of the most beautiful Hungarian legends is also connected to roses: in the apron of Elizabeth of Hungary, the alms for poor people became roses.
From the late Middle Ages, the centre of growing roses was France.
In the 13th century, rosaries were made from the crops of roses. Roses were certain elements of the images of the Holy Virgin, the decoration of the churches in the Middle Ages; they had important role in the pictures of the renaissance painters (Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli, Raffaello) many times.
In the coats of arms of the Houses of Lancaster and York, there was a red/white rose. The conflict of the two Houses is known as the War of the Roses (1455-1485). William Shakespeare, English writer recorded this conflict in his novel.
The rose appears in the world of music, as well: the poem called Heather Rose by Goethe was set to music by Schubert; the poem called The Rose, the Lily, the Sun and the Dove by Heine is a movement of one of Schumann’s song-cycle. Rose sprouts on Iluska grave in the operetta called John the Valiant from Pongrác Kacsóh – Károly Bakonyi - Jenő Heltai; the Knight of the Rose by Richard Strauss; The Sleeping Beauty of Csajkovszkij, the red rose of Carmen.
During his fifty years long work, Gergely Márk improved 165 species accredited by the state and more than 600 registered species.
In Szőreg, from 1999, every June, the growers celebrate their Europe-wide famous flowers with a three days long programme series. During the Rose Fest of Szőreg, the streets and squares are decorated by flowers.
In the surroundings of Szőreg, 4,5-5 million roses are grown every year.
Do edible roses exist?
A rose can be, for example tea, rambling rose, park dwarf rose.
One of the most well-known roses is the rose of The little prince of Antoine de Saint Exupéry.

The rose (Rosa) belongs to the family of the Rosaceae. Hundreds of wild rose species are known by the science. Roses form spinous bush- or rumbling plant groups, they can be 2-5 m high. Except the extreme, sterile fields, they can live anywhere but they flower in the most beautiful way in the soil which is rich in nutriment and calcareous. Roses have to be planted in autumn after falling of the leaves and cut back in spring. They like watering and nourishment very much.

Most of them are deciduous but some species (mainly which is indigenous in South-East Asia) are totally or partially evergreen. The edge of the leaves are crenate and little spines often can be found in the lower part of the stems.

Most of the rose species have a flower with five petals. Roses are ornamental plants which can be used in many ways. Hybrid tea roses are the most beautiful for cutting, into bunches, wreaths and vases. They flower from the beginning of June until autumn, they have long stems, nice shape and beautiful-coloured flowers. Most of them have really sweet fragrance. In Hungary, the fruit of wild roses, the rose hip is healthy, rich in vitamins (vitamin C, B, K, P) and jam can also be made from it.

Rose hip is also used in the folk therapy for hundreds of years: hip tea is suggested against kidney and bladder diseases but its medicative effect on high blood pressure, enteritis, gall and liver disorders are also studied. Wine, brandy and liqueur can be made from it, as well.

(Reference: http://www.balintgazda.hu/minden-heten-szuret/junius/rozsa.html)

In Szőreg

Nearby Tisza-Maros, owing to the appropriate soil and climatic conditions, the gardening culture has already formed in the 19th century. The gardeners were tobacco producers in the beginning, then they became ornamental plant and fruit tree gardeners. The first rose garden was formed by Kálmán Pillich in 1871.

After that, rose growing spread rapidly; firstly, among the gardeners of Újszeged, then among the gardeners from Szőreg who learnt in Újszeged. The first gardener of Szőreg was Márton Kovács (1877-1956), judge, who moved from Újszeged to Szőreg in 1901. He founded his garden in 1894. Later, more independent gardens were formed in Szőreg.

Nowadays, roses are grown in family farms, in 1936, a cooperative farm was founded in order to help in selling the rose-trees. Nowadays, still the members of the “Szőregi Virág-Dísznövény ÁFÉSZ” - which was founded in 1967 from private capital and was a private initiative - market the most roses. Most of the good-quality rose-trees (4-5 million in a year) were sold abroad, especially in Europe, also in the 1930s. Only about 10% of the grown roses are marketed in Hungary.

Awards

In 2004, thanks to the initiative of the ‘Szőregi Virág-Dísznövény ÁFÉSZ’, the designation of origin of the Szőreg rose-tree became protected in Hungary. During the process, the features features of the Szőreg rose-tree and the expectations in connection with the procedure of growing were recorded punctually. The protection concerns the order of growing not the species. The documentation argues many topics from the quality of soil, planting, budding, order of watering, cutting to the process of how can a gardener’s plant get the trademark of Szőreg.

According to the Act XXX. of 2012 in Hungary, the rose-tree of Szőreg got communal protection and became outstanding national value, and on 31th January 2013, it got into the Hungarian repository of values, then into the repository of values in Szeged and in Csongrád county.

According to the document about the protection of origin, the growing of the rose-tree of Szőreg is possible in the field of Szeged-Szőreg, Szeged-Mihálytelek, Szeged-Gyálarét, Deszk, Újszentiván, Kübekháza, Tiszasziget and Algyő, as well.

Rose species

Roses which can be found on the market and in flower shops have different fantasy names (fantasy name can also be after people, settlements) beside their traditional Latin ordering.

Gergely Márk, the most famous plant breeder named his rose species after towns which were separated from Hungary in Trianon, towns in Hungary, geographical places, historical people, Hungarian saints and famous people. For his wife, who helped his work in every respect, he bred a species and named it “Mami”.

Some samples of the noble species of Szőreg:

http://szoregirozsa.hu/rozsa/ady-endre-emleke/

http://szoregirozsa.hu/rozsa/apaczai-csere-janos-emleke/

http://szoregirozsa.hu/rozsa/dobo-istvan-emleke/

Szalóky István: A szegedi faiskolák története. Bp., 1955, 15. old.

Péter László: A szőregi kertészet úttörői. In.: Péter, László: Szőregi délutánok. Írások Szegedről. Budapest, 1994

Termékleírás: Szőregi rózsatő, Oltalom alatt álló földrajzi jelzés (OFJ) lajstromozási kérelemhez, Szőregi Virág-Dísznövény ÁFÉSZ, Szeged-Szőreg, 2010. december.

A BIZOTTSÁG 678/2012/EU VÉGREHAJTÁSI RENDELETE (2012. július 16.), Az Európai Unió Hivatalos Lapja, L198/4, 2012.07.25.

http://szoregirozsa.hu

http://www.rozsa-szoreg.hu/

http://rozsaunnep.hu/

http://www.rozsamarkgergely.hu/

http://www.szegedvaros.hu/ertektar/7919-szregi-rozsat.html

http://www.balintgazda.hu/minden-heten-szuret/junius/rozsa.html

Tagged: Repository of values in Szeged, Outstanding national value