"Woodland sketches" is a suite of tone poems that have survived as MacDowell's best-known work. Written when the composer was reflecting and interpreting the natural beauty surrounding his Peterborough summer home. To a Wild Rose is the first piece of this collection. The paper on which the melody had been written was saved by MacDowell's wife after he tossed it at the fireplace. She played it at the piano and decided to keep it since it reminded her of the wild roses near the cabin.