The Green Rose of Furley
Floral fiction propagated through the years.
Was the unusual green flower Rosa chinensis "Viridiflora," – known as the Green Rose – a signal to freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad? Many students of history and roses cite Helen Corse Barney’s historical novel Green Rose of Furley as the source of a bit of floral folklore that says abolitionists planted the roses in their gardens as a sign to refugees from slavery that they would offer a safe haven.
Helen Corse Barney was the granddaughter of William and Deborah Corse, who lived at Furley Hall in the 19th century and ran a successful nursery business along the banks of Herring Run. Barney drew from family stories about her Quaker grandparents when writing her novel, which includes a subplot about fugitives from Virginia staying at Furley Hall on their way to Pennsylvania, but there is nothing in the book that suggests the flower’s association with the Underground Railroad or the abolitionist movement. Rather, the green rose symbolizes the character of the novel’s protagonist, Susan Coale.
Could there have been Green Roses at Furley Hall? Absolutely. Green Roses were first documented in North Carolina in 1827, but they were likely common throughout the south even earlier. A horticulturalist named Robert Halliday brought several plants to Baltimore in 1837. By the 1850s, the plant was available across the United States and in Europe. The presence of the plant across the south and its wide availability would have made it an unreliable indicator of a “station” on the Underground Railroad.
Although it is possible that the Corses included Green Roses in their garden, it is unlikely that the flowers were associated with the Underground Railroad. The escape from slavery was dangerous for the freedom seekers themselves and for anyone who helped them. Few participants spoke openly about their roles in flights to freedom. Their silence leaves an intriguing open space in our history, where any number of myths can grow – including the myth of the Green Rose.
Sources:
A Rose by Any Name: The Little-Known Lore and Deep-Rooted History of Rose Names, Stephen Scaniello and Douglas Brenner, Algonquin Books, 2009
Green Rose of Furley, Helen Corse Barney, Crown Publishers, 1953
The Old Rose Advisor, Brent C. Dickerson, Timber Press, 1992
The Gardener's Magazine And Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement Magazine (Jun 1830) 335-6.
Floral fiction propagated through the years.
Was the unusual green flower Rosa chinensis "Viridiflora," – known as the Green Rose – a signal to freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad? Many students of history and roses cite Helen Corse Barney’s historical novel Green Rose of Furley as the source of a bit of floral folklore that says abolitionists planted the roses in their gardens as a sign to refugees from slavery that they would offer a safe haven.
Helen Corse Barney was the granddaughter of William and Deborah Corse, who lived at Furley Hall in the 19th century and ran a successful nursery business along the banks of Herring Run. Barney drew from family stories about her Quaker grandparents when writing her novel, which includes a subplot about fugitives from Virginia staying at Furley Hall on their way to Pennsylvania, but there is nothing in the book that suggests the flower’s association with the Underground Railroad or the abolitionist movement. Rather, the green rose symbolizes the character of the novel’s protagonist, Susan Coale.
Could there have been Green Roses at Furley Hall? Absolutely. Green Roses were first documented in North Carolina in 1827, but they were likely common throughout the south even earlier. A horticulturalist named Robert Halliday brought several plants to Baltimore in 1837. By the 1850s, the plant was available across the United States and in Europe. The presence of the plant across the south and its wide availability would have made it an unreliable indicator of a “station” on the Underground Railroad.
Although it is possible that the Corses included Green Roses in their garden, it is unlikely that the flowers were associated with the Underground Railroad. The escape from slavery was dangerous for the freedom seekers themselves and for anyone who helped them. Few participants spoke openly about their roles in flights to freedom. Their silence leaves an intriguing open space in our history, where any number of myths can grow – including the myth of the Green Rose.
Sources:
A Rose by Any Name: The Little-Known Lore and Deep-Rooted History of Rose Names, Stephen Scaniello and Douglas Brenner, Algonquin Books, 2009
Green Rose of Furley, Helen Corse Barney, Crown Publishers, 1953
The Old Rose Advisor, Brent C. Dickerson, Timber Press, 1992
The Gardener's Magazine And Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement Magazine (Jun 1830) 335-6.
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