0:00:03 > 0:00:08Of the 420,000 flowering plants on our planet,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12only a fraction of them have entranced us enough
0:00:12 > 0:00:14for us to bring them in from the wild,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16and grow them in our gardens.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23But many of the plants we know and love today
0:00:23 > 0:00:27look totally different from their ancestors.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31Evolution and mankind have conspired
0:00:31 > 0:00:34to shape a multitude of diverse forms.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36How spectacular!
0:00:36 > 0:00:38GONG BOOMS
0:00:39 > 0:00:41This is my Plant Odyssey.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44I love that one.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46This is one of a kind. There's only one in the world.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51I'm going to trace some of our favourite plants...
0:00:52 > 0:00:55..from their earliest origins,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57and, through their captivating stories,
0:00:57 > 0:01:02reveal why they have such significance in our culture...
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Ohh, it's glorious!
0:01:04 > 0:01:07..and such a special place in our hearts.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17We are looking at a flower that's instantly recognised...
0:01:18 > 0:01:20..that's universally loved...
0:01:22 > 0:01:26..for its exquisite fragrance, and the diversity of its blooms.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31It's a flower that can make romances...
0:01:32 > 0:01:34..or break hearts.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39It's the rose.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44The rose has always meant SO much to the British.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47It's embedded in our history,
0:01:47 > 0:01:49our fairytales,
0:01:49 > 0:01:50and our hearts.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Look at these wonderful flowers!
0:01:54 > 0:01:56So huge and voluptuous.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59We all have our rose memories.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04They're tied in with people, places and special times.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07And it's because of my personal memories
0:02:07 > 0:02:10that the rose means so much to me.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12ENGINE GROWLS
0:02:12 > 0:02:16I'm taking you on an odyssey around our islands.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21My quest begins when the rose first evolved.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24I'll explore why it was
0:02:24 > 0:02:27that the rose became an intrinsic part of Roman culture...
0:02:28 > 0:02:33..how it uses chemical warfare to battle aphid attack,
0:02:33 > 0:02:38and discover how a union between roses from East and West
0:02:38 > 0:02:43resulted in the plethora of varieties we enjoy today.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52There were roses in some of the gardens of my childhood,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56and in the countryside that I occasionally escaped to.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I remember another red car,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02my dad's Austin Atlantic,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and flying up into the North Wales countryside,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07tumbling out,
0:03:07 > 0:03:13to discover honeysuckle and wild dog roses clambering through the hedges.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14Heaven.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Oh, look! Here it is, here it is!
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Just look at this.
0:03:26 > 0:03:27How spectacular!
0:03:28 > 0:03:32This is our own native dog rose, Rosa Canina.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36And it instantly gives you a clue to what those very first roses
0:03:36 > 0:03:39that appeared on the earth must have looked like.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40It has these...
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Oh, beautiful.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47Incredibly simple flowers and yet so elegant.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Such a masterpiece of evolution and design.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55For a few short weeks each summer,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58they festoon the hedgerows,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00great swags of them.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05These pale pink petals, just five of them,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07lure in the insects.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09And in the centre, there is this plethora,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13this absolute powder puff of stamens and their anthers.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20And roses don't produce any nectar at all,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23so what lures all those pollinating insects in
0:04:23 > 0:04:25is the pollen,
0:04:25 > 0:04:26because they're rich in pollen.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35And the insects come and dust themselves in it
0:04:35 > 0:04:36and fly off to another flower.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39BEE BUZZES
0:04:40 > 0:04:43We find these simple, perfect roses
0:04:43 > 0:04:46growing wild across the northern hemisphere,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48but almost never in the southern.
0:04:49 > 0:04:55This tells us they evolved around 150 million years ago,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59after the ancient northern and southern landmasses split,
0:04:59 > 0:05:04but before North America and Eurasia drifted apart.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Isn't it incredible that this flower hasn't changed
0:05:09 > 0:05:11in millions of years,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13and when you look at it,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17you're transported to a time when the continents were one.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23It can grow right through a host,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25if it's growing at the edge of woodland.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Or it can just scramble around, as it is doing here.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32And when it sends out these great, arching branches,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36it encourages these small side shoots to grow, laterals,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40and on them there are buds, and buds and more buds.
0:05:40 > 0:05:41Just look at them here!
0:05:43 > 0:05:46But why has the dog rose been so successful
0:05:46 > 0:05:49for so many millions of years?
0:05:53 > 0:05:59One of its secrets is a perfect but brutal feat of evolution.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01The prickle.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Rose prickles may be small,
0:06:04 > 0:06:06but they're very effective.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11We always talk about a rose's thorns,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13but they don't actually have any.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Thorns are modified branches.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19The rose has prickles,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23which are growths on the outer layers of its stems.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27They are the rose's first line of defence.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30And it's easy to see why.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Roses have even evolved a type of biological warfare.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Their prickles harbour bacteria and fungi
0:06:39 > 0:06:42that can poison their unfortunate assailants.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47But prickles aren't there just for protection.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Now, out here,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52the rose is scrambling around,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55cos the whole idea is that those flowers should be exposed
0:06:55 > 0:06:59to as much sun and as many pollinating insects as possible...
0:07:01 > 0:07:03..and it's got a cunning way of doing that.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12There's nothing random about the layout or the form of the prickles.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15They encircle the stems,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17and they all point backwards.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19They act as tiny crampons,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22helping the rose to haul itself up.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30It can use these to thrust its stems into any woody branches,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34any leaves, anything which will enable it to climb into the canopy.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41What a brilliant policy,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43and how successful a plant it is.
0:07:44 > 0:07:50It must be just as those first simple roses grew on earth,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53millions and millions of years ago.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57The dog rose is a living fortress,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00impregnable and ever-expanding,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04but mesmerising, and somehow enchanting.
0:08:06 > 0:08:12It's so easy to see how roses became the stuff of fairytales,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14of magical briars,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16and sleeping princesses.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24ENGINE RUMBLES
0:08:24 > 0:08:29I can clearly remember being bowled over by one particular rose.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I must have been about eight years old.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35It was in Mrs Morton's garden,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38which I passed on my way to my grandad's house.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41I always looked in everyone's gardens,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43but on this day,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47I came face-to-face with Mrs Morton's prize rose.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50It was enormous!
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Pale yellow petals, touched with apricot.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55I was stopped in my tracks.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Mrs Morton told me its name.
0:08:59 > 0:09:00It was Peace.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The rose has been a feature of Western civilisation
0:09:08 > 0:09:11ever since the ancient Greek and Roman empires.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14For the Romans in particular,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18it played a huge role in everyday life.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Not only did they grow it in their gardens,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23paint images of it over their walls,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27they used it in their cookery, and at all their festivities.
0:09:31 > 0:09:32Pliny the Elder,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36probably ancient Rome's most famous natural philosopher,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39gives us the best guide to roses of the time.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43His book, Naturalis Historia,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46describes 12 different varieties.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47What's particularly interesting
0:09:47 > 0:09:51about the roses that Pliny writes about
0:09:51 > 0:09:56is that they sound nothing like the wild dog rose,
0:09:56 > 0:09:57nothing like this.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03Instead, he talks about wonderful flowers, with many petals.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09In some cases, he describes them as having as many as 100 petals.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15But how was a simple, wild rose
0:10:15 > 0:10:18transformed into a bloom thick with petals?
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Professor Brendan Davis sees plants differently to you and me.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31He opens my mind to a side of the rose that verges on science fiction.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36- Couldn't really have chosen a better day to inspect roses! - No, it's lovely.- It's beautiful.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40There's one here that I think is a really good example
0:10:40 > 0:10:41of a kind of halfway house.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43BIRDS CHIRP
0:10:43 > 0:10:44What do you think?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Yes, you can see that this flower has got many more petals
0:10:48 > 0:10:50- than you had in the dog rose. - Yeah, so many more.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55So, this rose has gained additional petals at the expense of stamens.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58So it's actually got less stamens than a dog rose?
0:10:58 > 0:11:00It has, yeah, and more petals,
0:11:00 > 0:11:04and that's because some of those stamens have changed into petals.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06So, what's happened there
0:11:06 > 0:11:08is that one organ has changed into another organ.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13So this is just like your nose changing into another ear.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17You can see that the petals that are closest to the stamens
0:11:17 > 0:11:18even resemble stamens.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20But what on earth causes it to do that?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22It seems so peculiar,
0:11:22 > 0:11:24and yet that must have happened with all these roses.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Yeah, so it's the result of a genetic change,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and what's happened is that there is a gene
0:11:30 > 0:11:32that normally works in the middle of the flower
0:11:32 > 0:11:36and its role is to make male organs and female organs.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39And what happens in this flower is that it's moved away,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41it's left some organs there,
0:11:41 > 0:11:42and they've become petals,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45because they no longer know that they should be reproductive organs.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48They no longer know that they should be stamens,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50so they just change into something else.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51- Into petals.- Into extra petals.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54And this is probably the first mutation of this type
0:11:54 > 0:11:56that people ever really saw,
0:11:56 > 0:11:57thousands of years ago.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03The Romans would have collected these rarities for their gardens...
0:12:05 > 0:12:08..where they would cross-pollinate, and mutate further.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15But replacing these pollen-laden reproductive parts with petals
0:12:15 > 0:12:18began to affect the flower's fertility.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25Happily, the Romans could continue to grow the roses they liked
0:12:25 > 0:12:27by taking cuttings.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Ooh, it is...tough.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Now, I have taken SO many cuttings in my time,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38but I've never really understood just what the process is
0:12:38 > 0:12:40to make a new plant.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43What does this cutting have to do?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46This is one of the really amazing things about plants.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50So, plants and animals have a completely different way of life.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53So, if it gets too hot and too uncomfortable for you here,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55you can go somewhere cooler, somewhere in the shade.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58- And have an ice cream. - CHUCKLING: Have an ice cream.
0:12:58 > 0:12:59Plants can't do that,
0:12:59 > 0:13:03they have to stay here and just take what the environment throws at them.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07And the way they cope with that is by changing the way they develop.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09- More adaptable. - More adaptable, yeah.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12So, you could say that animal development is quite boring.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Once an animal is born,
0:13:14 > 0:13:15nothing else happens to it.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18But plants, they have to constantly adjust their development,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20- throughout their life.- Yeah.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22And so, when you've taken this cutting now,
0:13:22 > 0:13:24cells down here...
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Somehow, they have to know that something's gone wrong,
0:13:27 > 0:13:32and they have to reprogram themselves to produce new roots again.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35So those cells actually have the capability
0:13:35 > 0:13:37of changing their whole identity,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40becoming roots, or presumably becoming shoots,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42if they're higher up on the plant.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Every cell in a plant knows what it should do
0:13:45 > 0:13:48because it can sense its position in the plant.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52- Right.- Plants can really re-programme their cells to do new things.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00I don't think I can ever think about plants in the same way again.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05It's so easy to underestimate them,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07to take them for granted.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09And yet, when you consider their ability
0:14:10 > 0:14:14to adapt, to regenerate, to survive,
0:14:14 > 0:14:18you realise how truly wondrous they really are.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25There are two roses in particular
0:14:25 > 0:14:28whose sweet scent I can remember,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30and when I'm close to them again,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33I'm taken right back to the time I first smelt them.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36One was New Dawn,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39climbing up the soot-blackened fence on the way to the coal shed.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44It smelt of apples, light and pretty.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46The other was the cabbage rose,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49given pride of place in the central bed.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53It had a rich, exotic scent.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58But the intoxicating perfume we so adore
0:14:58 > 0:15:01didn't evolve for OUR enjoyment.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04It plays a vital role in the roses' survival.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Scent evolved in roses
0:15:09 > 0:15:13because those with it have an advantage over those without.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19It helps lure in the insects that pollinate the flowers.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26I've come to the Roman baths in Chester
0:15:26 > 0:15:29to see Professor Geoff Ollerton,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32a man who understands the dynamics of scent.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38The scent of roses evaporates across the surface of the petals.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42You get these odour plumes coming out from the flowers,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45the pollinators follow those plumes,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47and then when they get closer to the flowers,
0:15:47 > 0:15:49of course, they see the colour, they see the shape,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52and they can home in on the flowers.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54- The initial attraction is scent...- Yes.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57- ..because it can be detected from far, far away.- Yes.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Scent plumes are one way that the rose communicates
0:16:03 > 0:16:04with the world around it.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09But these aren't the only chemical messages
0:16:09 > 0:16:11that the rose can broadcast.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Roses are susceptible to aphid attack.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22What starts as one or two
0:16:22 > 0:16:25quickly spreads into a seething infestation.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Aphids can produce clones through telescopic pregnancies.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37Before a daughter is born,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41she'll already have another clone developing inside her.
0:16:42 > 0:16:48In theory, a single aphid could produce 600 billion descendants
0:16:48 > 0:16:49in one season.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56The hordes of aphids pierce the rose, as they feast on the sap.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01In doing so, they trigger the release of chemicals
0:17:01 > 0:17:04that send out a very different sort of message.
0:17:07 > 0:17:08A call for help.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Ladybirds and other aphid predators
0:17:14 > 0:17:19are drawn to these chemical signals that waft in the air.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23They follow this trail back to the rose,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25knowing it promises an easy meal.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34The rose has come to be so much more
0:17:34 > 0:17:37than just a collection of cells and chemical reactions.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41It's assumed meaning in our hearts,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43in our history,
0:17:43 > 0:17:44and our lives.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50I'm heading to Exeter Cathedral,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53to see how the rose infiltrated
0:17:53 > 0:17:56one of the most profound reaches of humanity.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Religion.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05The rose has always been an important symbol in Christianity.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09And this splendid example of ecclesiastical architecture
0:18:09 > 0:18:10says it all.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Just look at this window.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Is it a rose? It's definitely floral.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21And I gather there are all sorts of rosy references within.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29At first you can hardly see them,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32but then your eyes get attuned to the rose frequency,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34and you see them everywhere.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36All around this arch,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38and then underneath,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41carved out of stone and beautifully gilded.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50The whole place is sort of thick with roses.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56And look at these beautifully ornate roses,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58some with extra petals.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Ah, it's glorious.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05This little chapel is devoted to Bishop Aldham.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08He was an educationalist,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11and he was also a Lancashire man,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15and he actually started Manchester Grammar School,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17which is where my dad went to school!
0:19:18 > 0:19:19And if you look...
0:19:19 > 0:19:22here's the red rose of Lancaster.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Dotted about all over the place.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29Isn't it lovely?
0:19:31 > 0:19:33That's very serendipitous, really.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38And this chapel has its roses, too.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43But in here, you see a different aspect of the rose.
0:19:43 > 0:19:44You've got to look up...
0:19:45 > 0:19:48..into this beautiful vaulted ceiling,
0:19:48 > 0:19:53and this central boss is a rose bush.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57And it's thorn-less - this is the Virgin Mary's rose,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01and it's sat there, gilded in this night sky,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05with crescent moons, and stars twinkling.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07It's so romantic.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12It's clear that this religion is imbued
0:20:12 > 0:20:15with such a deep love for the rose.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21Of course, within these walls, it's all about Christianity.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23And yet the rose has been revered
0:20:23 > 0:20:27by so many different societies and religions,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29all across the world.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37No other flower on the planet has been celebrated like the rose.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42But it's perhaps here in Britain that its hold is firmest.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Like a dog rose winding its way through a hedge,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52the rose infiltrated all aspects of British life.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56By the time of the Tudors,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00the rose had evolved into an emblem of English tradition,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03sitting proud in the nation's heraldry.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08It represented sex AND romantic love.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11It was used in most medicines.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14It was stamped into coins and armour,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17and was even baked into pies!
0:21:19 > 0:21:22But it was always surrounded by ambiguity.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28It represented two completely opposing concepts:
0:21:28 > 0:21:30heavenly perfection...
0:21:30 > 0:21:31and earthly desire.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38And by the 1700s, the rose found itself falling out of fashion.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46The rose was one of the earliest casualties of globalisation.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50New, exotic flowers such as tulips
0:21:50 > 0:21:52had started arriving from Asia,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56with their silky petals and alluring shapes.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59It seemed the rose's days were numbered.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05But the rose is renowned for its ability to survive.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07In the late 18th century,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10a brand-new type of rose swept across Europe.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It introduced new colours, including yellow,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16which had never been seen before.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18But the thing which excited people the most
0:22:18 > 0:22:22was the fact that this was a rose that kept on flowering
0:22:22 > 0:22:24way into the autumn.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27This was the China rose.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35But it took a chance meeting between the China rose and one from Europe,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38in a hedge on the island of Reunion,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42to create a whole new class of rose.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43The Bourbons.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48This is Madame Pierre Oger.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50She's a typical Bourbon rose,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54and she shows the qualities that those Chinese roses imparted.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57She's got these very spherical flowers,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00and a beautiful delicacy,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02and this wonderful, satin-y sheen.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08It was those first, chance hybrids
0:23:08 > 0:23:12that prompted people's passion for new roses,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and from then on, the greatest transformations of the rose
0:23:16 > 0:23:19were driven by man's direct intervention.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Michael Marriot is more a rose alchemist than anything else.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31He devotes much of his life to conjuring up
0:23:31 > 0:23:33exquisite, prize-winning hybrids.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39What was the beginning of the hybridization of roses then?
0:23:39 > 0:23:42There's a chap called Henry Bennett, who was a cattle farmer,
0:23:42 > 0:23:46and he was used to crossing his best bulls with his best cows,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and getting really good progeny out of it.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50So he thought, well, if you can do it with bulls and cows,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52why can't he do it with roses?
0:23:52 > 0:23:53Yeah, why not with roses?!
0:23:53 > 0:23:54Absolutely.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Inspired by his success with cattle,
0:23:58 > 0:24:05in 1879, Henry Bennet engineered the world's first super-rose.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06The Hybrid Tea.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Since then, fanatics across the planet
0:24:11 > 0:24:13have been tinkering with rose genetics,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16creating countless hybrids.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20But the painstaking technique that Bennet first pioneered
0:24:20 > 0:24:23remains relatively unchanged to this day.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Hopefully, the stamens inside will still be fairly immature.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30So the first bit is to rip all the petals off,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32finding the active bits in the middle.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37So, there's the stamens around the outside.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40And in the middle you've got the stigma, which are the female bits.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41So, what we do is...
0:24:42 > 0:24:44..carefully take those off.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46Can I hold your jar?
0:24:46 > 0:24:49- Well, no, actually, it's...- You've done this before, haven't you?
0:24:49 > 0:24:51Once or twice. THEY CHUCKLE
0:24:52 > 0:24:54So you've got to remove every single one of those?
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Yes, if you leave one, you might get self-pollination.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59That defeats the whole process.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02- So, all you want left here is the stigma.- That's right.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04The female part of the flower.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06There you are. All the stamens are off.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08So, here we've got another variety.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11So this is pollen from another plant that you've chosen?
0:25:11 > 0:25:14That's right. So, that's mostly all dried up stamens in there,
0:25:14 > 0:25:15but if you look very carefully,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17you can see a little bit of dust,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20just round the bottom and around the sides, can you see?
0:25:20 > 0:25:21- Oh, yeah.- Not very much.
0:25:21 > 0:25:22But you only need a little bit,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25so you just collect it on the end of the nice clean brush
0:25:25 > 0:25:28and then you just go dab-dab-dab-dab on the stigma.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Careful not to damage it.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32And there you are.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34To give you an idea of the scale of the thing,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38every year we produce about a quarter of a million new seedlings
0:25:38 > 0:25:41and they gradually get whittled down, whittled down, year after year,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45until we have the three or four we introduce at the Chelsea Flower Show.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Exactly! Brilliant.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49But how long before you decide whether or not
0:25:49 > 0:25:50this is one that's going to Chelsea?
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Eight or nine years before the final decision
0:25:52 > 0:25:54- about whether it's going to be produced.- OK.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56So the chances are pretty remote. HE LAUGHS
0:25:56 > 0:25:59- Yeah, they are.- But you never know. - But well worth it.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02There's more chance of being struck by lightning
0:26:02 > 0:26:05than a rose grown from a seed here
0:26:05 > 0:26:07making it to the Chelsea Flower Show.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12But that's always the ambition for men like Michael.
0:26:17 > 0:26:23To see just how far the rose has come since the wild dog rose,
0:26:23 > 0:26:24I've got the opportunity
0:26:24 > 0:26:29to meet one of those rare lightning-strike varieties.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Look at these magnificent roses!
0:26:32 > 0:26:36But there's one in particular that I've been longing to see.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39She's Princess Alexandra of Kent.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47She took a small fortune and ten whole years to create.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54And here she is.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Look at these wonderful flowers,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58so huge and voluptuous,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00with this exquisite scent.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04But this intense beauty comes at a price.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11Only the outer five of the Princess Alexandra of Kent's petals
0:27:11 > 0:27:13are true petals.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18The hundreds of inner petals are all modified stamens.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Man's intense hybridisation of the rose
0:27:23 > 0:27:27has pushed the very boundaries of nature,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29leaving this flower with almost no stamens.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35Even if a bee managed to get past the mass of petals,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39this beautiful rose is more or less infertile.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Seeing the Princess Alexandra Rose takes your breath away.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48It's a magnificent flower.
0:27:48 > 0:27:54It represents the pinnacle of 2,000 years of rose breeding.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Right the way through from those early Roman selections,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02to the chance meeting of two roses from either side of the world,
0:28:02 > 0:28:07that laid the foundations for the roses that we know and love today.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12And yet, there's something bittersweet about this flower.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16We've created something of wondrous beauty,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19but without the ability to reproduce.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25For me, there is something about a simple wild rose,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28a character and a magic,
0:28:28 > 0:28:32that man could never recreate.