The top selling cut flower at floral shops and in floral departments everywhere is the rose. These spectacular flowers come in a huge range of colors, and some varieties are very fragrant. The typical type of cut flowers that are sold today are hybrid tea roses. Today, the world’s leading exporter of them is The Netherlands, where they occupy roughly 8,000 hectares of cultivated land. The tiny African nation of Zambia uses almost 80 percent of the cultivated land to grow them for the cut flower industry. Ecuador is another major producer or cut roses, and that country devotes about 54 percent of the nation’s cultivatable land to growing them — which occupy about 5,000 hectares.

Multicolored Roses

Roses in History

It is believed that roses originally came from China. Now, however, they are grown from Africa to the Americas, and form the Far East to Eastern Europe. Ancient evidence of the existence of them comes from fossils from more than 35 million years ago, that were found in Colorado. A Sumerian Cuneiform tablet that was written sometime around 2860 BC mentioned roses, and according to Confucius, the Chinese Imperial Library owned many books about them.

In 15th century England, British botanists grew different rose species and used them to create new hybrid varieties. That was supposed to have occurred around the time of the War of the Roses. Henry VII, the Tudor King of England and victor of that war, had his botanists crossbreed the flower to create what came to be known as the Tudor Rose. It is now known as the Rose of England, and it is Great Britain’s National flower.

Nosegay Bouquet

Modern Roses

In addition to wild species, the type that produces rose hips that add color to an other wise dreary winter landscape and feed birds throughout the winter, there are two other classes of roses: old garden, and modern. Old Garden Roses are delicately beautiful and wonderfully fragrant. These are the type that grow on vines or shrubs and that are usually seen in pastel colors. They are often found in old fashioned flower gardens.

Modern roses are the result of crossbreeding hybrid tea roses with polyanthus – which is a type of primrose. Modern come in a wide range of colors. Floribunda, Grandiflora and hybrid tea roses are among the most popular types of roses that belong to the modern class.

Although people typically associate roses with expressions of love, passion, desire or romance, different color roses express different feelings, and the number of roses you give someone have just as much meaning as the color. Express sorrow with 15 red roses, or congratulate someone on an important accomplishment by giving them 25 red roses. In case you want to tell someone you admire them, give them pink roses.

Ruby Red Roses

If you want to give someone a lovely gift that doesn’t imply romantic intentions, then our arrangement of 24 pink roses is the perfect solution.

Let our Schaaf Floral designers help you choose the perfect arrangement of roses for a June birthday — or just because you want to give someone flowers this month.