Red roses are one of, if not the, most popular and beloved flowers around the world. Get up close and personal with Valentine’s bestselling flowers in this article.
THE HISTORY OF ROSES
There are roughly 100 different species of roses in the Rosa genus and Rosacea family. These woody perennial shrubs come in various parts of the globe, from Asia all the way to Europe, North America, and Africa.
According to fossil evidence found in Colorado, the rose is 35 million years old. However, its garden cultivation started only some 5,000 years ago, around the 18th century, in China and Europe, which experts say gave birth to the modern roses we see today.
George Washington, the first U.S. President, was also the first ever rose breeder in the country. As a matter of fact, he was so in love with roses that he named a variety in honor of his mother, Mary Washington.
Nowadays, 60 percent of the roses grown in America are from California.
ROSE FLOWER MEANINGS
Roses can naturally bloom in almost every color imaginable, except for two. (We’ll get to that later.)
ROSE COLOR AND THEIR MEANINGS
As with all types of flowers, each shade comes with a special meaning. See what your favorite rose color stand for.
- RED ROSES stand for
- love and romance
WHAT DOES THE NUMBER OF ROSES MEAN?
Even the number of roses you give or receive mean something, too.
- A single rose, whatever the color, could mean love at first sight or you’re still the one.
- Two roses mean the feeling is mutual.
- Three roses, as you may know, is “I love you.”
- Six roses if you want to say “I want to be yours.”
- A dozen roses profess love.
- 15 roses mean “I’m sorry.”
- 30, 50, or more roses mean he’s head over heels. The King of Sweden reportedly sent his wife, Queen Silvia Sommerlath, a dozen yellow roses every day for four years – which adds up to 1, 461 dozen or a total of 17,532 individual flowers.
That being said, you might want to double-check what color or how many roses you’re giving away next time, just so you don’t send the wrong message.
NO TRUE BLUE OR BLACK ROSES
Here’s the real deal about blue and black roses. They're not real.
There are no true blue or black roses in nature because they lack the gene to secrete delphinidin, the anthocyanidin source of blue pigmentation in flowers.
Flower manufacturers have devised many ways to create the rare blue and black rose.
One of them is through genetic modification. Japanese company Suntory introduced the blue gene of a pansy and an iris into a classic red rose. Because rose petals are quite acidic, the petals turned out looking more purple than blue. The rose is called "Suntory Blue Rose Applause."
Black roses, on the other hand, are either cross-pollinated multiple times from deep, dark red or purple roses. "Black Baccara," "Black Magic" and "Black Beauty" roses, which are more burgundy than black, are products of this process.
A fairly easier way to produce black or blue roses is to spray naturally white roses with floral paint.
ROSE IS FAVORITE FLORAL EMBLEM
Rose is the official national floral emblem of the United States since 1986. Likewise, it’s also the official flower of several U.S. states – including Georgia, Iowa, and New York.
Rose is also the national flower of England, Honduras, Iran, Poland, and Romania.
ROSES ARE RICH IN VITAMIN C
Roses bear fruits called rose hips, which in select species, contain 40 to 50 seeds and which are higher in Vitamin C content when compared to oranges.
THE TALLEST ROSE BUSH
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the tallest rose bush is 5.66 m (18 ft 7 in). It was grown by Robert Bendel at his home in Morristown, New Jersey. The towering, red rose bush was measured on 12 October 2009 by Arthur Rothenstein, a volunteer with the Master Gardeners of Essex Co New Jersey and a part-time gardening consultant for the Great Swamp Greenhouses in Gillette, New Jersey.
THE LARGEST ROSE EVER
The largest rose bloom ever grown was a pink rose roughly 33 inches in diameter, bred by Nikita K. Rulhoksoffski from San Onofre, California.
The world’s largest rosebush, on the other hand, a white Rosa banksiae, can be found in Tombstone, Arizona. It boasts of over 200,000 roses and branches that spread out about six feet thick.
ROSELANDS IN ECUADOR AND ZAMBIA
Do you love Ecuadorian roses? Did you know that majority of the lands in Ecuador are devoted to cultivating roses. Zambia, the leading rose producer presently, tops this with 80 percent. However, this is understandable since these countries consider the commercial rose industry as one of its major sources of income.
Orchid Republic offers customizable floral subscription packages featuring rose bouquets and same-day flower delivery in Los Angeles and Orange County.
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