Fun Facts About Roses

Fun Facts About Roses

"Roses are red, violets are blue…”  How many ways are there to end that rhyme?  (Not sure, but if you know the answer, we can add it to our list of fun facts below.)  Impress your honey on Valentine’s Day with your knowledge of all things floral.

• Roses are valued for their romantic symbolism but their blooms are also edible.  No, they don’t taste like chicken.  Rather like the flavors of green apples and strawberries.
• The rose family also includes pears, apples, cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, and almonds.
• The rose is named as the favorite flower of 85% of Americans.
• George Washington bred roses at his home.  Apparently, pruning roses came naturally to him (what with all that practice “pruning” cherry trees as a child).
• A fossilized rose - over 35 million years old - was found in Florissant, Colorado.
• Rose hips contain more Vitamin C than any other fruit or vegetable.
• Mythology says that roses grew thorns when Cupid accidentally shot an arrow into a rose garden.
• The oldest rose in the world has flourished for over 1,000 years on the wall of Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany.
• On Valentine's Day in 2010, a whopping 198 million roses were sold in the United States.  59% of them were red.  100% of them were over-priced (see next fun fact).
• Just in time for Valentine's Day, rose prices typically jump 42% in February.
• There are more than 15,000 different types of rose species and cultivated varieties worldwide.
• A nursery will name a rose after you for a fee. To have the next rose named (not just any other name, but your name) you'll have to fork over $15,000.