Rose

Roses are frequently mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays.  In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet wishes that Romeo could stop carrying his family identity, so that the block to their love could be removed.  She says “What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet” (2.2).  Perhaps true.  But  the play also insists on the significance of names, since they connect to family (and, we add, to culture).   We notice that the famous phrase “What’s in a name?” can draw attention to the importance of Halq’emeylem names and language, and the relationships and knowledge embedded in them.

Nootka rose is also similar to the historic “red rose” of Lancaster in the English “wars of the roses,” which are portrayed in Shakespeare’s history plays (most famously Richard II, Henry IV Parts One and Two, Henry V, and Richard III).  Henry VII of the house of Lancaster, defeated Richard III, of the house of York, and married Elizabeth of York, uniting the warring families and founding the Tudor lineage. 

In the garden we also have the deep red climbing rose Dublin Bay and the white rose City of York.