The language of roses

[Yvonne Belisle]

LET YOUR ROSES DO THE TALKING

Whether you’re bashful, at a loss for words, or simply looking for a novel way to convey a special message - say it with roses. These blooms are the most popular of all cut flowers and they carry a lot of “body language.”

According to the Rose Information Bureau, each rose color has a special meaning. What’s more, when several colors in various stages of bloom are combined in one arrangement, your floral bouquet can speak a whole sentence instead of just one thought.

“Rose talk” is a trend setting idea that has its roots in the past. In Victorian times, such meaningful nosegays were known as “tussie-mussies,” and courtships often were carried on from first blush to the alter with rose bouquets. Happily, this lovely tradition is regaining favor with today’s young romantics.

To help you compose your own “tussie-mussie,” here are some of the most widely accepted meanings for different rose colors, blooms and arrangements:

Red roses say “I love you” and also stand for respect and courage.

White roses have several meanings: “You’re heavenly,” reverence and humility, innocence and purity, “I’m worthy of you,” and secrecy and silence.

Red and white roses together, or white roses with red edges, signify unity.

Pink roses in general symbolize grace and gentility. For more subtle shades of meaning, choose deep pink to stand for gratitude and appreciation. Light pink conveys admiration and sympathy.

Yellow roses usually stand for joy and gladness, but can also say “try to care.”

Coral or orange roses denote enthusiasm and desire.

A deep burgundy rose means “unconscious beauty.”

Red and yellow blends stand for jovial and happy feelings.

Pale colors convey sociability and friendship.

Rosebuds symbolize beauty, youth and a heart innocent of love or: “You are young and beautiful.” Red rosebuds mean “pure and lovely” and white rosebuds signify girlhood or “too young to love.” The moss rosebud stands for confessions of love.

A single rose stands for simplicity. In full bloom, it means “I love you” or “I love you still,” and a bouquet of roses in full bloom signifies gratitude.

Withered white roses have two meanings: fleeting beauty and “you made no impression.”

Hybrid tea roses mean “I’ll remember you always” and sweetheart roses symbolize just what their name implies.

Two roses taped or wired together to form a single stem signal an engagement or coming marriage.

A full blown rose placed over two buds forms a combination that signifies secrecy.

A crown made of roses signifies reward or virtue.

In general, leaves are a symbol of hope.

Regardless of color or stage of development, roses sent every month convey the message: “beauty ever new.”

Even if the rose recipient is not familiar with these subtle shades of meaning, one message always stands out loud and clear: The person who sends roses is a romantic saying something very special.

[Spirahl]

I've fallen back in love with roses, and plan on planting as many colours as possible, for their magical correspondences. So far I've just a red climber and an orange tea. There are also wild dog roses in the area which are pink and produce lovely hips. It's nice to know they have more personal/down-to-earthy meaning as well. Really, I prefer taking things down to a folky/common level as much as possible. Thanks for the info.

[Greenthumb]

I just have to say that my brand new baby has just birthed its first bloom. (David Austin's English Perfume) It is light around the edges, blending into a distinct, but subtle lavender color. The scent will roll your eyes back,,, I LOVE THIS ROSE!!!

alright, I'm finished now
greenthumb

[Lavender]

I LOVE roses! When we sold our house a few years ago, we stipulated in the sales agreement that we were going to take some of the rose bushes with us. The real estate agent thought I was nuts! It was hilarious! We sold so fast, we haven't found another house yet. We had to move in with my mom (who doesn't have a yard to speak of). We sold the house in late summer, dug up my roses, planted them in her "yard". It took us 2 months to find our new house. I had to leave the roses there until spring. Dug them up & transplanted them to our new yard. The move didn't hurt them one bit...they're gorgeous! Unfortunately, the one plant I had to leave behind was the blue rose. It was called The Blue Girl & the roses were truly blue!

[MammaStar]

Roses are definitely one of my fave flowers. My whole front garden is rosebushes. That's because the front part is my "Dad's" part and he too has a special place in his heart for roses, that stems from his tour in Vietnam. Seems, he and his outfit were walking through a village that had just been Napalmed, at this time he and my Mom were dating, and he was thinking of her as they walked. When he looked over to the side, and saw a single red rose. Coincidentally, my mother's name is.....Rosemarie! That is the ONLY story my father has ever told me & my brother about the war and it always stuck with me.

This year we have in our rose garden, a lovely yellow with red fringes rose, peach roses, yellow roses, red, and my FAVE pink. I love pink roses soooo much, that my darling boyfriend gave me 32 pink roses last friday for my b-day. Yes, I'm a lucky girl.:D :heartthro :sunny:

[Greenthumb]

I've seen "blue girl" and it is pretty spectacular. I think Jacksons & Perkins have great stock, and if I'm ordering through the mail, that's who I go through. They also have a pretty nifty web site, & you can order the free catalogue through there.(Just in case you didn't know about J&P)

greenthumb

[Lavender]

Thanks for the info on J & P. Hubby keeps saying that we don't have any more room for another rose bush. Hah! There's no such thing as too many roses.... :D

[Greenthumb]

There's always room for 1 more little rose bush!

peace & good growing
greenthumb

[Yvonne Belisle]

bump

[Danustouch]

I was watching a program on the meaning of flowers in the Hospital when I was sick. And it said, that Yellow Roses, actually meant a fickle heart. A cheating heart. So..you might wanna cancel out the Yellow Roses from wedding bouquets, or other bouquets for your sweetie:)

It also said that full bloomed roses, were a sighn of absolutely open love.."my love for you is in full bloom, so anyone can see it"..where as a bud, means..."I'm not sure how I feel". If on the other hand you have a full bloom, surrounded by two buds, it means.."Yes, I feel the same way..I'm in love, but it has to be a secret".

Also, when these posies and boquets were given, it was traditional for a woman to pick a couple of the flowers from the bouquet, to symbolize her response, and wear them on her person. Which flowers she chose, and where she wore them, would greatly signify her response.

In her hat? Nope. Not interested. Thanks anyway.
On her Wrist? Friendship implied. "I am fond of you, too, friend".
In her bosom? I am interested, but I'm not sure. Pursue me you wild man!
Over her Heart? I am deeply in love, and will be faithful to you.

[StormCloud]

We live near J&P and our yard is filled with some of their 'seconds' - roses who didn't have enough canes or had canes that were too 'small'. We've got a salmon color that wasn't marked with a name - it's the first rose we've gotten that had a perfect bloom *and* smelled wonderful. It always seems that a rose has either form or smell but not both.

[Yvonne Belisle]

Stormcloud I am jelous! I love roses my grandmother had a beautiful iris and rose garden when I was little I loved it and violets along the walkways too yellow purple and white ones iris and roses of all colors even a climing one on a trellis I used to love to sit under.

[Zephyr]

I wonder how often do you water the roses?

[Yvonne Belisle]

I think my grandmother went by how much moisture was in the ground. Welcome to Mystic Wicks. That is a wonderful name and I for one am very pleased that for your first post here the green room was gifted with a gentle breeze. :) I hope to see more of you here in the green room we can always use more questions and answers.

[Zephyr]

Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm from a tropical country thus i can say about the mositure in the soil is determine by me because its indoor planting. So how should it be gauge? How many times do i water it? By the way, what is the nature of rose -- dry or wet soil?

[Yvonne Belisle]

I found this article for you it lets you know about the water situation there are many more articles with lots of good information in them at this site.

http://www.rosemania.com/




Let’s Talk About Water

by Fermin Rodriguez

We constantly tell our members that roses require a lot of water– minimally, the equivalent of two inches per week. Other times we tell you "water, water, water." Seldom do you see an article on rose growing that doesn’t stress the importance of water. Yet, whenever we’re called out on a "rose consultation," invariably, the thing that sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb is the lack of moisture in the rose beds.

We think that this subject needs a little discussion because many of our members don’t have the foggiest idea of how much water to give their bushes.

Let’s see if we can clarify this situation. For the sake of simplicity, let us assume that the roots of a mature rose bush occupy an area of 36 square feet; that is, 6 feet by 6 feet. Now, 36 square feet is equal to 5,184 square inches and if you multiply that by 2, you have a volume of 10,368 cubic inches; this is the amount of water equivalent to two inches of rain localized in 36 square feet. A gallon contains 231 cubic inches. Consequently, it would require you to put 44.88 gallons of water in the 36 square feet that your rose bush is growing to equal two inches of rain. For the sake of simplicity, let’s round that off to 45 gallons.

If you fill a gallon jug with your garden hose and see how long it takes you to do it – and it will vary depending on water pressure and the size of the hose – then you’ll know how long it will take you to put out the 45 gallons of water for one rose bush. Bear in mind that this is the minimum amount you need; more is much better.

If you were to get a 2" downpour or if you were to deliver 45 gallons of water to your bush, you would think that’s it for the week. Wrong! When you put that much water on our very porous Florida soil, it goes right through it and 2 or 3 days later, your rose bush would be dry again. What you need to do is give your bush at least 15 gallons of water 3 times per week; then you’re doing the equivalent of 2 inches per week and you will see a dramatic improvement in your bushes and consequently, in the quality of your blooms. A good layer of mulch will help keep the moisture there.

The secret to growing good roses is in the amount of water that your bushes receive. If you’re skimpy with the water, all the fertilizer in the world won’t help, because water is what carries it into the bush. So resolve today to give your roses water at least in the amount recommended above — more will be better.

Can you give your roses too much water? Yes, you can, but this is not usually the case. If you have poorly draining soil or if you have prepared a planting hole that does not drain properly, the roots of your rose bush will be standing in water and it won’t be long before they begin to rot. At that point in time your rose bush will begin to go downhill fast.

In conclusion, in our fast draining soil here in the Tampa Bay area, if you want good roses, you must:

water, water, water.



for copyright information please see http://www.rosemania.com/ go to expert advice permission to copy is granted so long as credit is given.

[Zephyr]

Hey thanks for the enriching info you provided...