Roses are red…

	Red symbolizes love, respect, romance, courage and passion.
	Dark Red reveals unconscious beauty, admiration.
	Pink carries the message of happiness, sweetness, gracefulness and gentleness.
	Deep Pink says gratitude and thankfulness.
	Light Pink conveys admiration, gentleness, grace, gladness, joy and sweetness.
	Orange indicates enthusiasm and fascination.
	Bridal White symbolizes a happy love.
	White expresses purity, heavenly, secrecy, silence, innocence and charm.
	Yellow indicates joy, gladness, friendship and new beginnings.
	Coral & Peach shows desire and excitement.
	Purple signifies faithfulness, passion and true love.
	Lavender symbolizes love at first sight and enchantment.
	Pastel colors mean best wishes.
	A Single Red Rose means I love you.
	A Single Rose in any color expresses simplicity and gratitude.
	Red and White Roses together signify unity or engagement.
	A bouquet of roses in full bloom means gratitude and is a symbol of great beauty and perfection.
	A thorn-less rose signifies love at first sight.

The rose is more than a beautiful and popular flower, it is a great public institution…

	60% of the roses grown in the U.S. are produced in California.
	The rose is the favorite flower of 85% of Americans.
	More than 1.2 billion roses are sold annually in the U.S. as cut flowers. This is a per capita of 4+ roses per person.
	The three biggest holidays for rose sales are Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Christmas.
	There are 900+ acres of greenhouse dedicated to the production of fresh-cut roses in the U.S.
	150 million rose plants are purchased by gardeners worldwide each year.

All the world glows with roses, roses, roses...

	A fossilized rose, which was estimated at 35 million years old, was found in Florissant, Colorado.
	The oldest painting in the world depicts a pink rose. It resides in a cave on the island of Crete and dates to 1450 B.C.
	Cleopatra covered the floors of her apartments with rose petals to welcome Mark Antony home.
	In the Medieval Ages, the red rose stood for Christ’s blood, while the white rose for the Virgin Mary.
	The compass rose has appeared on maps since the 1300’s. The term "rose" comes from the figure's compass points resembling the petals of the rose flower.
	It is written that on October 11, 1492, one of Christopher Columbus’ crewmen picked a rose branch from the calm waters. This sign of land renewed their hope for survival and gave the seafarers the courage to continue on to the New World.
	It was in the 17th century that French explorer Samuel de Champlain brought the first cultivated roses to North America.
	In the early 19th century, dried rose petals were believed to have mysterious powers. Napoleon gave his officers bags of rose petals to boil in white wine to cure lead poisoning from bullet wounds.
	Napoleon’s wife, Josephine, grew nearly 300 varieties of roses.
	Modern hybrids date back to 1867.
	The Peace Rose was smuggled from occupied France to the U.S. during World War II.

Yet, O Thou Beautiful Rose!...

	There are no native rose species south of the equator.
	There are 130 plus AARS-accredited public rose gardens, 3 of which are in Colorado:
	Jefferson County Sheriff’s Complex Rose Garden, Golden, CO
	War Memorial Rose Garden, Littleton, CO
	Longmont Memorial Rose Garden, Longmont, CO

The United States of Roses…

	President George Washington was the first U.S. rose breeder.
	In 1913, Ellen Wilson, wife of Woodrow Wilson, planted a rose garden near the entrance to the White House and filled it with choice specimen roses.
	In 1962, President Kennedy envisioned the rose garden space as an outdoor room, a place where official ceremonies could be held.
	The rose is the official National Floral emblem of the United States signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 7, 1986.
	The rose is the state flower of Georgia, Iowa, New York, North Dakota and the District of Columbia.

Rose of all Roses, Rose of all the World!...

	The Biltmore Estate in North Carolina has 2,300 roses in their rose garden.
	The Garland of Roses presented to the winner of the Kentucky Derby contains more than 500 roses. Owners save a rose from it to dip in silver for preservation.
	The Tyler, Texas Municipal Rose Garden is the nation’s largest rose garden with 38,000 rose bushes representing 500 varieties of roses set in a 22-acre garden.
	The largest rose garden in the world is in Cavriglia, Italy, and holds over 7,500 different varieties of roses.
	The oldest living rose in the world has flourished for over 1,000 years on the wall of Hildeshiem Cathedral in Germany.
	The canopy of the World's Largest Rose Tree in Tombstone, Arizona spreads across more than 8,000 square feet, has over a million blossoms and was planted in 1885. The trunk of the tree is approximately 12 feet in diameter. Her name is the “Lady Banks Rose”.
	The Tournament of Roses annual parade has been held in Pasadena, CA since January 1, 1890. It is estimated that more than one half million roses are used in each parade.

They that have roses never need bread...

	Almonds, apples, quinces, pears, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries are all relatives of the rose.
	Black roses and Blue roses do not exist.
	The buds of the smallest rose, “Si”, are the size of a grain of rice.
	Centifolia means 100 petals, and are known as “cabbage roses”.
	The rose is in the dicot family of the plant kingdom.
	There are generally 3 main groupings of roses: Species, Old Garden and Modern.
	There are generally 11 main classifications of roses.
	There are currently over 16,000 varieties of roses available in commerce.

Oh, no man knows through what wild centuries roves back the rose...

	Pliny, the Roman writer, noted 32 different remedies using the petals and leaves of the rose.
	In the 12th century, plants were cultivated by monks in their monastery gardens for their medicinal properties.
	In the 19th century old scented roses were used to make jelly.
	Rose water was successfully used to cure all kinds of ailments, such as trembling, constipation, drunkenness, skin and throat infections and insomnia.
	Rose hips (the part left on the plant after a rose is done blooming) contain more Vitamin C than almost any other fruit or vegetable.
	Rosehip tea is often recommended in pregnancy.
	Rose oil can reduce high cholesterol levels.
	Roses are used in face toners and perfume and are one of the most effective anti-ageing ingredients.
	Its fragrance is known to induce relaxation and a bring a sense of calm.
	It takes a ton of rose petals to make sixteen ounces of rose oil.
	Feng Shui rules state that roses with thorns can create bad energy in the home, but use them outside to protect your home from the killing breath that can enter.

Time brings roses...

	According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, gave the rose its name.  (Aphrodite's Roman name was Venus).
	Ancient Romans believed that white roses grew where the tears of Venus fell when she was mourning Adonis.
	Mythology says that roses grew thorns when Cupid accidentally shot an arrow into a rose garden.
	It is believed that when Venus walked through the garden and pricked her foot on a thorn, it was the droplets of her blood that turned the roses red.
	Greek mythology refers to the rose as “The King of Flowers”.

A rose is a rose is a rose…

	The Greek poet Homer referred to the rose as “the queen of flowers”.
	Sappho called the rose "the queen of flowers" in her poetry in 600 B.C.
	Theophrastus, a pupil of Plato and Aristotle, wrote the first guide to roses in 300 B.C.
	Confucius had a 600-book library on how to take care of roses.
	In the readings of Shakespeare, he refers to roses more than 50 times.