Vol. 09, Issue 07 July 2009 
Roses in Gwangju – 2009 Chosun University Rose Festival
Festivals, Travel
Chosun University has the second largest rose garden in Korea, rivalled only in size by the rose garden in Seoul. Nearly 18,000 roses of 227 different species are grown here.
By
I have yet to find a nation that has no love lost for the rose. Throughout time, and across cultures, roses have been eloquent symbols of beauty, passion and mystery. The rose is native to the U. S., where wild rose fossils dating back 35 million years can be seen in Colorado. But the earliest written records of roses come from Asia. In 500 BC, Confucius described a 600 volume collection on rose-growing in the Chinese Emperor’s library. Roses have held an unparalleled fascination for the human race ever since.
In the hot, humid Gwangju, roses have been blooming profusely since the first heat wave in late April. Rose vines billow over the brick walls of houses to greet me on my walk to school every morning. Sometimes I stumble on a tiny plot of fragile, twisting stalks that unexpectedly brighten a street corner.
Ample rainfall and long, sultry summers make South Korea an ideal place for rose-growing. Korea is a leading exporter of cut roses to Japan and Russia. It has nearly 750 hectares of rose farms and over 2000 rose growers, many of whom operate small-scale family businesses.
One mellow Sunday afternoon, I meandered into the Chosun University’s 7th annual rose festival. * Chosun University has the second largest rose garden in Korea, rivalled only in size by the rose garden in Seoul. Nearly 18,000 roses of 227 different species are grown here.
The Chosun University Rose Garden was first conceived in 2001 as a meeting place for university staff and students to foster love and sensitivity. Circling a soccer field in the heart of the campus, the garden is a sea of colour and scent from May to November. There are sinuous paths and trim beds of award-winning damask, tea, and china roses, broken by dramatic arches and towers of climbing roses.
Chosun’s rose garden has always been a source of pride for local community. During the festival weekend, the garden was dense with boisterous families and canoodling coupes, all enthusiastically admiring, sniffing, photographing, and trying to decipher the meaning of the rose.
Footnote:
* The Chosun University Rose Festival was originally scheduled for May 15-17th, 2009. Inclement weather postponed many of the festivities tothe following weekend.
