Rose Trivia
Rose Trivia
The Real Beauty in Roses
is the Story Behind Them
For centuries, roses have inspired
love and brought beauty to those who have received them. In
fact, the rose's rich heritage dates back thousands of years.
- People have been passionate
about roses since the beginning of time. In fact, it is
said that the floors of Cleopatra's palace were carpeted
with delicate rose petals, and that the wise and knowing
Confucius had a 600 book library specifically on how to
care for roses.
- Wherefore art thou rose?
In the readings of Shakespeare, of course. He refers to
roses more than 50 times throughout his writings.
- 1,000 years old. That's
the age the world's oldest living rose is thought to be.
Today it continues to flourish on the wall of the Hildesheim
Cathedral of Germany.
- Why white roses are so special
is no mystery - it's a myth. Perhaps it started with the
Romans who believed white roses grew where the tears of
Venus fell as she mourned the loss of her beloved Adonis.
Myth also has it that Venus' son Cupid accidentally shot
arrows into the rose garden when a bee stung him, and it
was the "sting" of the arrows that caused the roses to grow
thorns. And when Venus walked through the garden and pricked
her foot on a thorn, it was the droplets of her blood which
turned the roses red.
- It's official - the rose
is New York's state flower.
- The rose is a legend in
it's own. The story goes that during the Roman empire, there
was an incredibly beautiful maiden named Rhodanthe. Her
beauty drew many zealous suitors who pursued her relentlessly.
Exhausted by their pursuit, Rhodanthe was forced to take
refuge from her suitors in the temple of her friend Diana.
Unfortunately, Diana became jealous. And when the suitors
broke down her temple gates to get near their beloved Rhodanthe
she also became angry, turning Rhodanthe into a rose and
her suitors into thorns.
- Dolly Parton may be known
for her music and theme park. But rose lovers know her for
the orange red variety bearing her name.
- A rose by any other name...
according to Greek Mythology, it was Aphrodite who gave
the rose its name.
- While the rose may bear
no fruit, the 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.
- The rose is a symbol of
times. In fact, it's the official National Floral Emblem
of the United States.
- Leave it to the romantic
French to be the ones to first deliver roses. It was in
the seventeenth century that French explorer Samuel deChamplain
brought the first cultivated roses to North America.
- Roses are truly ageless.
Recently, archaeologists discovered the fossilized remains
of wild roses over 40 million years old.
- The people of ancient Greece
used roses to accessorize. On festive occasions they would
adorn themselves with garlands of roses, and splash themselves
with rose-scented oil.
- Napoleon's wife Josephine
so adored roses, she grew more than 250 varieties.
- For the past 30 years and
counting, June has been the National Rose Month in the United
States.
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