Where Did Roses Come From And What Do They Mean?
Roses have been a symbol of love, beauty, war and politics for centuries. The colour and number of roses carry symbolic meanings. Roses are the most popular romantic choice of flowers for gifts across the globe. A bunch of roses or even a single rose works wonders.
An old wives tale tells of how once all roses were white in colour until one night a nightingale fell in love with the beauty of a rose and sang a beautiful song about it. After finishing his song he pressed the thorn filled rose to his chest where it pierced his heart and the rose was forever stained red.
The origins of roses can be traced back to Northern Persia on the Caspian regions of the Gulf. Fossils have been found, that can be dated back 35 million year, in Colorado. Funeral wreaths created from roses have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs as sacred offerings to the Goddess Isis. The Imperial Library in China was reported by Confucius to have many books on roses. In 2860 BC the Sumerians of Mesopotamia wrote on a cuneiform tablet about roses. After the war of the roses in the 15th century, Henry VII Tudor, created the Rose of England named the Tudor rose, to celebrate his victory in the war.
Roses can have many symbolic meanings. For example yellow roses are a symbol of friendship or jealousy in Victorian times, red roses are for love and deep emotions, while white roses are a symbol of sympathy and humility. There are no true black rose varieties, however some red varieties are so deep in colour they almost look black. Roses have been used as symbols of love especially on Valentine's Day, and are great when made into arrangements for weddings and anniversaries.
The Netherlands is the world's leading exporter of roses. The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under rose cultivation, is the global leader in cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador, is under rose cultivation and Zambia, a small nation, has approximately 80 per cent of its cultivated land under roses.
If you would like to find more roses go to the Interflora website where you can see many more yellow roses.
