Thank you...I never knew that about the symbolism of roses on tombstones. Very touching!

You've got at least one I haven't run across -- the hand dropping a rose. That's lovely.
I find as much pleasure in these lovely sculptures as I find in the living roses that often surround them.

Here's one of my favorites, from an old Gold Rush Era cemetery.

Jeri

Here is a link that might be useful:

Thanks for sharing this with us, it's very thought provoking.
I never knew.
What great, and appropriate symbolism.

Randy

Celeste,
That's really neat. I never knew any of the symbolism.
Thanks for the lesson : )
Remy

Celeste, I loved seeing those pics. It reminded me of the stones my parents put up for themselves and my sister when she died as an infant in the early 80s - hers has a rose bud carved, while their headstones have roses fully opened. They planted a rugosa hybrid there (it's in the middle of a windswept North Dakota prairie) and it has thrived ever since. Wild prairie roses (Rosa arkansana) grow wild there, and were suckering all around in the mowed grass on the plot... so we moved some into the flower bed there, too. More people have planted hardy roses in the years to follow (before that there were just hybrid teas, which obviously didn't last but a year or two). It's nice that roses continue touch us and watch over us even after we're gone.

Thanks Celeste for the pictures and the information. Life and roses, very appropriate, we should enjoy both while we have them. I'll have to check the old cemetary in my hometown now!

Eric

Celeste, thank you so much for posting this. I collect pix of stone roses, too. You have a couple of styles that are different than I've seen, but overall, they were doing much the same thing out here in California as on the East Coast.

Jeri, there's at least one in the Sacto cemetery that has a hand holding, if not dropping, a rose - it combines the rose symbology with a lamb, another very popular symbol for a child.
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One of my favorite plots in Sacramento has five children buried there - so heartbreaking, two died within days of one another of diptheria - there is one stone set up for three of them, which has many of the symbols for children - a lamb, a dove carrying a broken rosebud, and another broken rosebud. This plot has Fortune's Double Yellow in the center of it.
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Anita

Celeste---As soon as I see your name I know immediately that I will be enthralled with your post.

this is a true treasure of information.

thank you so much----

This is sad but very informative.

Florence

Celeste, that is a remarkably informative chronicle, and fascinating rose lore as well. I had never realized the symbolism, though of course it makes perfect sense once someone has explained it. The pictures make it all vivid. It will stay in my mind, and next time I am in an old cemetery, I will see what I can find myself.

Rosefolly

Hello everyone....
Thank you for all your positive feedback on the pictures. I am glad to know that you were touched to learn of the symbolism of the rose. I really find the old gravestones fascinating.
Anita....thanks for your photos....I enjoyed seeing them. I wanted to share a few more pics, since a few of mine are similiar to yours.
Also, if anyone is intrigued by the meanings of tombstone symbols, I have posted a list of the more common ones after the photographs.

Celeste

another hand, this time with a rosebud....

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child's gravestone with rose and a lamb

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very old stone, child hugging lamb.....(little child's stone)

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another stone, slightly different version of child hugging lamb....

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dove with rosebud....grave of an infant

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angel taking child up to heaven, holding rosebuds & a torch..

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Gravestone symbols and their meanings:

Winged face.... effigy of the deceased soul; the soul in flight.
Wreath.... victory
Wheatstrands or sheaves.... the divine harvest
Tree.... life
Tree stump.... life interrupted
Leaning Tree trunk.... short, interrupted life
Urn.... immortality
Urn with blaze.... undying friendship
Weeping willow tree.... mourning; grief; nature's lament
Winged cherub.... resurrected immortal soul
Torch, inverted.... life extinct
Oak leaves & acorn.... maturity; ripe old age
Open book or bible.... deceased teacher or minister
Moon, Stars.... soul rising to heaven
Lion.... courage
Palm branch.... victory and rejoicing
Morning glory.... beginning of life
Scythe.... death; the divine harvest
Skull, skeleton, bones.... mortality, death
Rising Sun.... renewed life
Sun, shining....life everlasting
Sun setting.... death
Thistle.... Scottish descent or remembrance
Stars & stripes....eternal vigilance
Lamb.... innocence
Hourglass.... the passing of time
Hourglass flying.... time flies
Ivy.... friendship and immortality
Lily or Lily-of-the-Valley.... innocence and purity
Harp.... praise to the Maker
Cherub.... angelic
Hands, clasped.... the goodbyes said at death
Handshakes.... farewell
Dove.... purity, devotion
Dove flying.... resurrection
Grapevine.... church is the vine, members are the grapes
Garland or Wreath.... victory in death
Drapes.... mourning
Fruits.... eternal plenty
Hand, pointing up.... pathway to heaven; heavenly reward.
Acanthus leaves....life everlasting
Crossed swords.... high ranking military person
Crown.... glory of life after death
Flower.... fragility of life
Flame or light.... life, resurrection
Anchor or Ships.... christian hope; seafaring profession
Angel, flying.... rebirth, resurrection
Bird.... eternal life
Bouquet of flowers.... condolences, grief, sorrow
Arch.... victory in death
Cup or chalice.... the sacraments

Celeste I grew up next to a cemetary. I have never thought to take pictures of the stones though, how very unique and interesting. I love the roses on them.

I hope mine has some oak leaves and an acorn, LOL.

Thanks for sharing that information with us.

Valerie

Old cemeteries are quite poignant(?) to me. In the old Monroe City Cemetary, there is an enclosed family plot which has several children's graves. On the last one, there is this inscription," Here lies the last hope of John and Mary". All of their children died in infancy or childhood.I think there were 5 or more. I haven't been there in several years. I need to go back and look for carved roses and other symbols.Thanks, Celestialrose, for the key to the symbols. Buff

I am intrigued. I never knew there were hidden meanings in those different carvings. Wait till me and DH go to another cemetery...He'll think I'm so smart! Thanks for the pics, they are hauntingly beautiful.

Love the stones with the child hugging a lamb, and the angel with the child (and roses). The Sacramento cemetery was founded in 1850, and most of the stones are from the 1860s and later. I think that your stones are somewhat older, Celeste - thanks for sharing them.
Anita

I'm a photo volunteer for 'find a grave dot com'. I was out yesterday afternoon on an assignment, and the first grave I photographed had roses on it.

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Here's an example from the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg. The rose by this grave is Old Blush.

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The art aspect of old gravestones is facinating. I especially love the children's stones -- though the thought of them is heartbreaking.

Connie

Great photos everyone!

Celeste,
Thanks for the list of symbol meanings. I too wouldn't mind some oak leaves and acorns on my headstone, lol.
Remy

We have lost two babies in just over one year to stillbirth, one at 33 weeks and the second at 36. I planted a Madame Hardy because I wanted a white rose for my son, and this spring I am looking for a pink rose for the daughter we lost, so I can cut the flowers and take them up to their graves. I am thinking either Memorial Day (Weeks, David Carruths.) or Sharifa Asma. I'm thinking the Memorial Day will last longer once cut. Now after reading your beautiful post, I will know to take BUDS to their sites instead of fully open roses.
Thank you for providing this information.

triple b....
I am SO very sorry for your heartbreaking losses. As a mother I can only imagine the endless depths of grief you are feeling.
I will always be touched by a gravestone of a little infant girl who my DH and I found from the early 1800's, who shared our last name. There was the usual rosebud on the stone accompanied by this simple yet touching inscription:
Lilla Woodbury

age 4 months

"A bud on Earth,
A bloom in Heaven."

May you find solace in this verse, that your little angels
are the most beautiful of roses blooming in Heaven.

Celeste

Honestly, if I'd known what this post contained I may not have read it, but I've been enriched by doing so. Thank you to Celeste and all of you for contributing your thoughts and photos. I also have a knot in my throat over the babies and children's graves.

My grandmother will be 96 this May and when contemplating her own passing says each time that she looks forward to seeing "her Larry" who she refers to as her "heart," her dear affectionate 4 year old who died unexpectedly from a heart problem 92 years ago. Now that I have a child, I understand this. Before I wondered at what point time would lessen her grief.

triple_b blessings to you...
Dawn

I came across some more poignant photos of stones and wanted to share them with those of you who showed an interest.
Many thanks to all for your responses!

Celeste

Angel leading child to Heaven.....

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This stone of 2 infants who died made me want to cry.....

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Extremely old gravestone....dating back to 1700....
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Oak leaves & acorns for Valerie & Remy.....

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Thank you Celeste for posting the pics. When I was a little girl and my grandmother was visiting, we used to go for Sunday drives and hunt down old cemetaries. I grew up in the North Country part of NH.

There are so many similarities here in California!

A broken stem (it was raining, hence the foggy lens!)
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A very common marble design on children's graves
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An angel with torch and bouquet. We grow a found rose, "Rosa Davey," which is an unidentified early pink HT.
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A much-photographed gravestone. No stone rose here (just a bear!) but the rose, Placerville White Noisette, is sold by Vintage and is a lovely small everblooming rose.
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And finally, some more oak leaves and acorns. I didn't know their meaning, Celeste - thanks.
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Anita

cindyabs....that's neat to hear that you once lived here in NH...some of these pics are from cemeteries in the northern part of the state. Some folks think that going into cemeteries to look at the stones is morbid, but I don't think so. Its actually very comforting to me to make peace with where we're all going to end up eventually!
And reading the inscriptions is fascinating and educational...so much American history is revealed. We have found stones of dignitaries from long ago in many cemeteries across our state and New England.

Anita....I loved your photos....and yes, you are right! There are such similiarities between our stones, even though yours are on the West coast and mine the East coast.
I find that so interesting. Thanks for sharing yours.

Celeste

they are truly fascinating. And for the most part, cemetaries are beautiful places.

This is another example of always learning something new on GW...thanks for the lovely pictures and the explanation about symbolism.
Linda

Lovely, interesting post. My mother, who adored her father, my grandfather, had a bronze plaque on his grave that has roses on it, that I have loved to this day: We seem to give him back to Thee, Dear God, but as you have not lost him in giving, so we have not lost him by his return.
Judith

I LOVE that!!

Dear Celestialrose, such beautiful pictures thank you for sharing. We have a kneeling lamb on our son's grave and my husband drew the sketch for it because we couldn't find the "exact right" lamb. Dear triple b, I'm very sorry for your losses. Our son Vic died at birth several years ago. Because of him we started a memorial rose garden for lost infants and I got to know all of these wonderful people and buy many beautiful old garden roses.

These photos are beautiful & so touching!

triple b, my Mom lost 3 little angels before I was born, to late miscarriages. Then they discovered her problem & surgery put her uterus in the right position. When I was about 8,9 yr old our parents told all 3 of us about our "older" sibs. We are now middle aged and our parents have joined them, but we have never forgotten that there are 5 gone ahead of us not 2.

I hope your problem will be resolved too & you have my prayers for it to be so! And meanwhile you will always carry them in your heart, as you know.

Judith -- I like the inscription you posted from your grandfather's stone, recognizing the totality of life and death.

It's too long for me to post here, but you can Google the poem about "...The rose that grows beyond the wall..."

In my own genealogy I found a child's stone inscribed:
"Thou art gone Little Willie,
Sweet proof of our love.
From Earth's Fairy Strand,
To bright Heavens above."

Still look at this post from time to time..

Don't remember seeing this one before but it's a wonderful thread, thank you!

It is a good post, isn't it?

I miss Celeste on this forum. I haven't seen her post in quite some time.

Rosefolly

I miss Celeste, too; wherever she is I hope she's all right. I don't remember this post, either, and it's beautiful.

Melissa

I agree - this is a great post and deserves revisiting.

BTW - how do you access posts this old? When I've done a search for threads I know were no more than 2-3 years old, they no longer pop up on GW, and the pages at the bottom of the screen only go up through 66 or so pages anyway. It would be nice to revisit some more of these old friends of threads.

And speaking of old friends, Celeste is indeed sorely missed, for her delightful cheerful interaction as well as a gifted cold weather rose gardener.

Cynthia

This one was easy to find; I went to google; typed in meaning of roses on headstones. I look at the post a few times a year.

Myself & a few friends are looking to purchase a headstone for a teenage Jane Doe