For those enamoured of roses, the best place to admire them is in the private garden Sólo Rosas, located in Llano Grande, Cartago. In 1978 Mr. Martín Guzmán and Mr. Gillermo Vega decided to start a flower business with the intention of selling their production to the whole country. Originally they began planting carnations but shortly after they switched to roses and never looked back!

SoloRosas - orange roseAdmired by its beauty and celebrated since ancient times by numerous poets and writers, the rose has become the queen of all flowers, present in almost all flower bouquets and ubiquitous on every garden.

Roses are perennial flower shrubs or vines of the Rosa genus, within the Rosaceae family, there are over 100 species and thousands of hybrids. The name rose comes from French, itself from the Latin rosa.

Roses have been given numerous uses throughout the centuries. For instance, their oil steam-extracted from the flowers (also called attar of roses), has been used in perfumes in many cultures. The French parfumeurs from Grasse got quite a reputation for their rose oil in the 18th century.

SoloRosas-nurseryRose water or rose syrup, a by-product of the oil is used to flavour food (especially in the Iranian cuisine), as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and also for religious purposes in Europe and Asia. The first distillation and use of rose water is credited to Muslim chemists, during the medieval period (starting in the mid-8th century A.D.), for use in their drinking and perfumery industries.

Rose hips (the berry-like rose fruit) are also made into jam and jelly, or are brewed for tea, mainly for their high vitamin C content. Rose hips are also used to produce Rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products and some makeup products.

Connoisseurs usually make a difference between the “ancient roses” and the “modern roses”. The ancient ones are usually the those cultivated before the mid-19th century, a great deal of those varieties have been lost.

In 1867, the first tea hybrid (derived from Chinese imported rose shrubs that came along with the tea shipments) was created by Jean-Baptiste Guillot: “La France”. This is considered as the beginning of the modern roses, what is nowadays known as “English rose shrubs”, “floribunda roses” or “big flower” rose shrubs.

The rose shrubs that you can admire at Sólo Rosas are mainly imported from France, but you can also find varieties from Holland, Japan and the USA.

SoloRosas-bouquetModern roses are usually given a name by their creators, those names are maintained by the buyers and producers. At Sólo Rosas you can find such classics as “Madame Meilland”, “Julio Iglesias” or “McCartney”.

Although rose shrubs flower all year long, the best time to visit Sólo Rosas is at the end of March and during the whole month of April. Sólo Rosas opens from 9am to 3pm, from Tuesday to Sunday. You can purchase there rose bouquets or rose shrubs that are guaranteed to blossom all year long!

Click here to visit our Sólo Rosas picture gallery.