A Rose by Any Name by Douglas Brenner & Stephen Scanniello

This lovely little book is all about the history of roses and their names. As someone who knows almost nothing about roses, this book was a fascinating read. Each chapter is titled with the name of a rose, and the authors tell the story of that particular rose's name. The rest of each chapter is then spent explaining the names of other roses which got their names for similar reasons. Each chapter ends up with at least a dozen rose names explained. There are chapters on roses named after Presidents, royalty, celebrities, food, sports, and saints. I had no idea that there was a world of rose creators out there, vying for the right to name their hybrid creations. It gives me the urge to create a garden based on all peace-related rose names, or a garden full of Shakespeare-themed roses. The book has a very handy index in the back, so that you can look up any rose you are curious about. This book would be a terrific gift for any garden or rose-lover.
This is the first adult book that I've read that was published in 2009, so it counts for the Pub 2009 Challenge. The 2009 Pub Challenge is to read at least nine books that are published in 2009. I never manage to stay on top of new books, so this challenge might get me to read some new ones. This one is also for the RYOB 2009 Challenge, which is "read your own books". This is also something I need help with.