Oscar Wilde once said, “A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both 
red and roses.” He was not alone in ascribing a personality to this particular flower. The red rose has symbolized passion for many centuries.
A bouquet of red roses is the most popular gift for lovers across the World. The selling of this particular cut flower is quite easy, too. Acres of these flowers are sold on Valentines Day. However, it seems that florists need to gear up for the month of June. Why not sell some more red roses now?
There has been no act of the US Congress to make Red Rose Day an official national holiday, so I wondered how roses, and red ones in particular, got their own special day. I searched the web but could find no mentions of the holiday’s history. There were some entries about a Red Rose Day and Week being used by the Australian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I’m guessing that there might be some connection with the two holidays.
Since the month of June is popular for weddings, red roses are a choice for the ceremony. White roses predominate for the wedding bouquets, but are paired with red roses to signify unity. Red roses have represented beauty, love, courage, and respect ever since the days of the ancient Greek city-states. Supposedly, red roses are the favorite flower of the Goddess Venus. The red rose is also sacred to the God, Bacchus.
As far as obsessions about red roses, the ancient Romans couldn’t be beat. Their physicians discovered some medicinal qualities of the Mediterranian Red Rose. Ancient experimenters were also able to utilize the fragrance of the flower in perfumes and ointments. Roman rose growers worked their ways to make red roses bloom beyond the natural cycles.
While rose lore began and grew in Europe, we can’t neglect the role of China in the development of the contemporary versions of red roses. Botanists from the European powers brought “ever-blooming” varieties of roses from China. Among the rose variety hybrids were the different sizes and shades of red in the rose blooms.
Botanical historians have discovered that primitive varieties of the red rose date back some 35,000,000 years. My guess is, that even earlier civilizations, like those in Egypt, considered the red rose to be special.
These days, red roses are the most popular cultivated flower in residential gardens and flower beds. Varieties have been cultivated to grow in most world climates. In the Northern Hemisphere, they are fairly easy to grow. They bloom from June until the first frosts of Autumn.
Why not enjoy National Red Rose Day, today? If you have a red rose bush at home, now is a good time to cut a few flowers. Maybe you’d rather buy a solitary red rose, or a bunch, instead.
Ciao
The Blue Jay of Happiness reminds people who were born in June that their birth flower is the rose.
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