A Rose is Still a Rose Trivia Quiz

Answer: Germany

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was an artist of the German Renaissance best known for his work as a printmaker. He gained renown in the medium of woodcut prints, but preferred engraving for his later work. Although his paintings are less familiar to many, his watercolour landscapes were leaders in introducing that genre in Europe.

The Albrecht Dürer rose is a hybrid tea rose with large orange-pink flowers and a strong fruity scent that grows as a shrub. It was first produced by the German breeder Hans Jürgen Evers in 1996.

Answer: Austria

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) should need little introduction to anyone who has visited his hometown of Salzburg. Those who have not done so may well have seen the movie 'Amadeus', which focused on his rivalry with his contemporary Salieri. His music is very easy to listen to, even for those with little knowledge of Classical music, and has been used in the soundtrack of a number of movies. The 1967 film 'Elvira Madigan' featured the Andante from Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, and a theme from that same movement was adapted by Neil Diamond for 'Song Sung Blue'.

The Amadeus (II) rose is a climbing rose with dark red flowers, which grows up to 3m in height. It was first produced in 2003 by the German rose-breeding company W. Kordes' Söhne.

Answer: France

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a French author responsible for the historical adventures 'The Three Musketeers' (and its sequels), as well as 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. He is often called Dumas père, to distinguish him from his son (Alexandre Dumas fils), also a successful author who is best known for writing 'The Lady of the Camellias', adapted by Verdi into the opera 'La Traviata'.

The Alexandre Dumas rose, another dark red hybrid, grows to about 150cm, with large blossoms that are produced several times each season. It was first produced in 1861 by the French breeder Jacques-Julien Margottin père.

Answer: United States of America

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the fourteenth President of the United States, and led the country through its Civil War (1861-1865). Born in Kentucky, he was raised in that state and Indiana, and as an adult worked as a lawyer in Illinois before entering politics and becoming one of the major influences in establishing a new political party that became known as the Republicans. When he was shot while attending the theatre on Good Friday (someone should have warned him that such frivolity was not a good idea), he became the first American president to be assassinated, although not the first to die in office. That was William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia in 1841, only thirty one days after giving an exceedingly long inaugural speech in the pouring rain.

The Abe Lincoln rose (also called the Mr Lincoln rose) grows as a bush to nearly 2m. It has a strong fragrance, and lots of sturdy thorns, so should be handled with care. The flowers are dark red, turning purplish as they age. They were originally produced by the American company Swim & Weeks in 1964.

Answer: Hungary

János Arany (1817-1882) was a Hungarian poet best known as the writer of over a hundred ballads, including 'The Bards of Wales'. Arany wrote this poem in 1857, when he was asked to write a poem in praise of the Austrian emperor, who was planning to visit (at a time when Hungary was under control of the Habsburgs). Instead, he produced a ballad about an incident, probably apocryphal, from English history, in which Edward I is said to have had 500 Welsh poets executed because they refused to sing his praises when he visited a Welsh castle following his conquest of Wales in 1282-1283. The parallel was pretty clear, and he didn't publish the poem until six years later; even then, he pretended that it was a translation from the English rather than an original work.

The Arany János emléke rose is a low-growing plant, suitable for use in borders. Its flowers are orange, with yellow at their base. They were first produced in 2006 by the Hungarian breeder Gergely Márk.

Answer: Russia

Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) was a ballerina who made swans her specialty. She created the title role of 'The Dying Swan', a four-minute solo first performed in 1905. It shows the last minutes in the life of a swan (no surprises there), performed to the segment of Camille Saint-Saens's 'Carnival of the Animals' called 'The Swan'. This dance then had a major influence on the choreography used in almost all later productions of Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' for the scene in which Odette dies.

The Anna Pavlova rose is a bush rose with pale pink flowers whose petals are slightly darker near the base - very swanlike! They were first produced in 1981 by the British breeder Peter Beales.

Answer: England

Agatha Christie (1890-1976) was an English writer best known for writing mysteries. Her best known characters are Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, both of whom have been the central character in televised and cinematic adaptations of the stories in which they originally appeared. I suspect that her character Ariadne Oliver, an author who regularly declared her hatred for the fussy Finnish detective she had created, spoke on behalf of the author!

The Agatha Christie rose is a climbing rose, growing up to 4-5m in height. Its large pink flowers have a moderate scent, and grow in clusters (most prolifically in the late summer). The first one was produced in 1988 by the German breeder W. Kordes' Söhne.

Answer: The Netherlands

Antonia Ridge (1895-1981) was a writer and broadcaster whose name may not be as familiar as some of her work - she wrote the English lyrics for Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller's song 'The Happy Wanderer', which was a summer-camp staple in the middle of the 20th century. She was also a writer for many years on the BBC 'Children's Hour', and read many of her own plays on air. Fittingly for the theme of this quiz, she also wrote 'For Love of a Rose', a biographical work about a family known for their rose production. It is a shame that the yellow roses used for the cover art are not from the cultivar named after her!

The Antonia Ridge rose is a shrub, growing to a height just over a meter and a width just under a meter. Its double red flowers are large, but have little scent. They do well in a wide range of soil types and sun conditions, but do need good drainage. They were first produced in 1976 by the French company Meilland International SA.

Answer: Sweden

Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) is the author who brought us the delightful Pippi Longstocking, a red-head pigtailed girl with amazing strength who lives in a house with her monkey and her horse. Her seafaring father, with whom she had shared adventures before he bought her the house to stay in for a more stable life, is missing in the early books, but Pippi's faith in his return is justified. She decides, however, to stay in her home rather than return with him to rule over a South Seas island. They still have adventures when he visits!

Although she is best known around the world (her works having been translated into around a hundred languages) as the creator of Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren also wrote a number of other series of books for children. In 1958 she became the second recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen medal for 'Rasmus and the Vagabond', a novel developed from her own screenplay for the 1955 film.

The Astrid Lindgren rose is a medium-sized shrub, whose light pink flowers grow in small clusters, and have a raspberry-like scent. They were first bred in 1991 by the Danish breeders Pernille and Morgens Olesen.

Answer: Belgium

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) was born in Brussels, but spent large amounts of time in the Netherlands and England studying ballet. After performing in the chorus in several West End musicals, she moved on to minor film roles before starring on Broadway in 'Gigi' in 1951. This led to the title role in 'Roman Holiday' (1953), for which she won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award. More success followed, with some of her best known films including 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' (1961) and 'My Fair Lady' (1964). In later life, she devoted more of her time to working for UNICEF, for which humanitarian work she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992.

The Audrey Hepburn rose, officially patented as the TWOadore rose, has fairly large light pink flowers with a fruity scent. It was first produced by the American breeder Jerry Twomey in 1991.