Rose Colour Symbolism and Romance
So, you want to give your guy a bouquet of roses or maybe a tasteful single long-stemed rose... But what colour, (or color - for my American readers) should you choose? There's just so many -- and genera or species what about that, (the rose family contains about 107 genera and 3100 species 1).
The Greeks were the first to develop a language of flowers, known as florigraphy. Over the centuries, in western civilization, flower language became extensive. Many different species—according to their properties—were associated with a wide range of human emotions, conditions, events, or ideas. 2
For our purposes, we'll just stick to the romantic meaning of a roses colour. Colour and symbolism is a funny thing because they can have a different meanings to different people or cultures. I've chosen the colours, and meanings based on what is considered the common meaning in North America. 3
It should be noted that there's something to be said for just giving your favorite guy a dozen or more roses in any appealing colour or arangment and forgoing the colour symbolism.
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1 & 2. Source: Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
3. Source: grower flowers
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