In Bloom Florist Blog

In Bloom Florist Blog

Posted by In Bloom Florist on January 28, 2022 | Last Updated: May 4, 2023 Flower Info

February Flower of the Month: The Rose

February Flower Of The Month:

The Rose

Family: Rosaceae

The infamous rose is our February flower of the month for many reasons. Not only are roses the staple floral for occasions such as Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, and weddings. There are also so many unique characteristics of these abundantly petaled flower stems. Read on to learn something new about roses!


Origin

Native To: Most rose species are native to Asia but have spread across the northern hemisphere.

In The Wild: There are naturally growing “Wild Roses” that grow like a shrub practically anywhere where it is warm.


Rose Care

Perfect Petals

To maintain the beauty of roses, you can peel off guard petals. These are the outer layer of petals that may look a little worn. These petals guard the rose head while in transit, it’s okay to pinch and peel off these petals directly from the bottom.

To determine if your rose is fresh, you can also check the petals. Squeeze the head of your rose gently, if it appears to be squishy and soft it is probably near the end of it’s lifespan. If its firm and cold, it has quite some time left. If your petals look soft, or are falling off when you handle it, this is a tell-tale sign your roses are coming to the end of their life.

Roses in a vase:

The longevity of any vase arrangement is 5-7 days. Roses are fairly long-lasting cut flowers. We recommend with all vase arrangements to change the water every 2 days and when doing so, make sure you are re-cutting each individual stem before placing back in the water. Cut these stems at an angle so that the stem can act as a straw and drink up the fresh water as needed. If your outer petals are starting to look sad, feel free to gently pinch and peel off the damaged petals.

Roses in Foam:

Unlike a vase arrangement, we recommend never pulling the stems out of the foam from your arrangement. This will keep the stems drinking from the water that the foam is soaked in. However, every day check your foam arrangement to make sure it is always fully saturated with cold water. The best way to refill your arrangement with water is taking the entire arrangement, flowers, vase, and all, out of the vase and sticking it directly under a faucet. If you can’t get it under the faucet, take a watering can and fill the foam with water until you feel that it is fully saturated.

With both vase and foam arrangements, always make sure you are placing them in a dark, cool location in your home. Placing them in direct sunlight or near a warm environment will decrease their lifespan.

Growing in your garden:

Roses can be grown in many ways. You can start a rose bush, shrub, hedge, or as a climbing plant. They thrive off of bright sunlight and grow fairly quickly. They can reach their full size in a couple years and some varieties can survive up to 50 years! Springtime is the ultimate season to start planting your roses. They do go dormant in the Winter, but living in Florida they will bloom all year long. The best rose blooms will appear between October and May.

Drying Roses:

Dried and preserved roses are very common and easy. Tie a few rose stems together, flip them upside-down, hang in a dark space in your home, and forget about them for a few weeks! Depending on the variety of rose, note that the color may become less saturated. After they are preserved you can place them in a vase around your home or keep them on your wall as an antique décor style.


Symbolism and Fun Facts

 

  • There are over 150 varieties of roses and thousands of hybrids.
  • Roses can come in pretty much every color.
  • They are among the oldest flowers known.
  • The oldest growing rose is over 1,000 years old and it is growing on the walls of a cathedral in Germany.
  • Roses are often used to make perfumes and fragrances.
  • Every rose variety has a different petal count, meaning some have more petals than others!
  • Not all roses have thorns.
  • 4 states have roses as their official flower, Georgia, Iowa, New York, and North Dakota.
  • The national flower of the USA is also a Rose.
  • Every color and variety of rose has their own meaning.
  • Red signifies love, pink is grace, peach is modesty, and so on.
  • The tallest rose bush according to the Guinness Records, is 18 ft. 8 in.
  • Roses are one of June’s birth month flowers, next to the honeysuckle.

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