Roses are definitely one of the most popular flowers for bouquets. With so many colours and varieties available, they’re really versatile and work well for lots of different occasions and styles.
If you can’t get enough of roses, keep reading to learn our 10 most intriguing facts about these beautiful flowers.
There are over 100 species of rose
You never have to worry about getting bored with roses – there’s over 150 different species in the world. That’s just the tip of the iceberg too. The full picture is even more complicated, as there are over 30,000 different rose varieties and hybrids. This number will only get bigger, as new types are constantly being developed by breeders and nurseries.
To make things a little simpler, most roses are divided into categories, such as hybrid tea roses, Old English roses, climbing roses, and Floribunda roses. Hybrid tea roses are the most popular type for bouquets, as they have long stems and large flowers with beautifully defined petals. Plus, they come in plenty of different colours!
Roses are edible
Roses are edible, and they can be eaten in lots of different ways. They have a light, sweet taste, with darker coloured flowers producing stronger flavours. You can sprinkle fresh petals on to salads, or you can use them to create rose-infused desserts, jams, and drinks. The dried petals can also be steeped to create lovely floral teas. If you need a bit more convincing, you’ll be pleased to know that roses are also a great source of vitamins C and E, and they’re rich in antioxidants as well!
Breeding roses is an expensive business
It takes a long time and a lot of work to perfect a new type of rose. Look no further than David Austin’s Juliet rose to see this in action. It took 15 years and over £2 million to get the rose just right, making it the most expensive rose ever cultivated.
Blue roses don’t exist naturally
Blue is the rarest colour for flowers, and blue roses don’t exist in nature. It’s not for lack of trying either – scientists have tried to create blue roses, but even the best results are more purple in colour. Luckily, not all is lost – you can get dyed blue roses that do the trick just as well!
The oldest living rose is over 700 years old
A rose bush growing on the walls of the Cathedral of Hildesheim in Germany is believed to be the world’s oldest rose. It’s at least 700 years old but some say it was actually there before the cathedral, which was built in 872!
Its long life span is even more impressive when you consider that the cathedral itself was actually bombed and destroyed during World War II. Although most of the rose above ground was destroyed, its roots survived, and it eventually grew back and blossomed again.
Each rose colour has a different meaning
We all know that red roses mean love, but did you know that each colour of rose has a different meaning? For example, white roses symbolise purity and innocence, whilst pink roses can mean appreciation, admiration, and gratitude. Yellow roses are the perfect choice for friends, as they represent joy, friendship, and happiness.
Roses have been around for millions of years
A 35 million year old fossil of an ancient rose was found in Colorado, but it’s estimated that roses first originated 70 million years ago. Humans have cultivated roses for thousands of years – it’s believed that the first rose gardens were grown in China 5000 years ago, and historical records show roses were grown in Ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece.
The “thorns” on roses are actually called “prickles”
Technically speaking, roses don’t have thorns at all. The thorns are actually called ‘prickles’. This is why rose ‘thorns’ are so easy to remove – actual thorns are part of the stem which makes them very sturdy, whilst prickles grow from the epidermis (the outer part of the stem) and are much more fragile as the tissue isn’t connected to the plant in the same way.
Rose prickles help the plant in a few ways. They fend off predators or insects, but also give the plant some extra support when it’s growing, as the prickles hook on to other plants and objects.
A gram of rose oil uses 3,000 roses
Rose oil is one of the most popular ingredients for perfumes, and it has a wide range of other uses too. It has anti-ageing and anti-inflammatory products, meaning it’s great for your skin, and some say that it also helps to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Rose oil doesn’t come cheap though – a bottle of pure rose oil can cost hundreds of pounds. This is because the distillation process is a lot of work, and roses don’t contain a lot of oil, so you need a lot of them to make just a small amount. You need around 3000 roses to produce just a gram of rose oil!
If you love roses as much as us, why not check our roses category? We have red roses, pink roses and even rainbow roses… yes rainbow roses! Order a flower delivery today, you won’t be disappointed.
