MEDIA RELEASE: 1812 LEGACY COUNCIL AND TREATY OF GHENT DELEGATION TO PLANT PEACE ROSE 200 YEARS AFTER THE WAR OF 1812

THOROLD, ON (July 8, 2014) The Niagara 1812 Legacy Council, in cooperation with the Niagara Parks Commission, Parks Canada, Old Fort Niagara, and its many other 1812 partners, is pleased to welcome the Treaty of Ghent Association from Ghent, Belgium, to the Niagara region from July 15^th to 17^th.

In 1814, a single rose became the symbol of the Ghent Peace Treaty. The four diplomats, who signed the treaty that defined the border of Canada and the United States, each had a rose devoted to them; a fifth rose was called the Peace Treaty Rose. In the 200 years that followed, that variety of the Peace Treaty Rose was lost and forgotten.

Now, the organizers of the Ghent Peace Treaty commemorations, which kicked off earlier this spring, have joined forces with the city of Ghent Floralien Horticulture Association to make sure this rose finds a home in all three countries: Belgium, the United States and Canada.

But first, a determination had to be made on what kind of rose was used originally, and then cultivate the rose. An exchange of letters describing the rose was found in the archives at Floralien, which were written by John Adams, second President of the United States, according to Ghent Floralien Director, Jan Oprins.

The Association determined the approximate variety of the rose, and discovered that a local grower had already developed a variety of striking similarity.  “It is slightly different in that it is more climate resistant than was able to be developed 200 years ago,” says Oprins.

A delegation of 22, led by Jan Briers, the Governor of the Province of East-Flanders in Belgium, will be planting these roses at the Belgium Embassy in Ottawa, then travelling to the Niagara Frontier for plantings at Old Fort Erie and Queenston Heights, Ontario, Canada, then Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York.

The Niagara 1812 Legacy Council is pleased to welcome the delegation to Niagara and will have an official planting and reception at Queenston Heights on Wednesday, July 16^th at 12:30 p.m., joined by local dignitaries and 1812 committee members from across the region. Media are asked to RSVP.

Following their visit to Niagara, the delegation will head to Washington, D.C. for a commemorative planting of the roses. For more information about the delegation, please visit their website: www.treatyofghent.org

The Niagara 1812 Bicentennial Legacy Council is a bi-national not-for-profit organization established to commemorate the War of 1812 and celebrate the 200 years of peace between Canada and the United States.

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