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Rose, the Queen of Birthday Flowers
 Sally Bartlett
Birthday flowers are special, appropriate and meaningful. Roses are an especially nice choice, coming in so many pretty shades and having a sweet aroma and lasting a relatively long time in a vase. However, just waltzing into a flower shop and saying give me 6 of those and 6 of those and expecting the recipient to be thrilled, could have some rather surprising results. Roses have very special meanings! The color, the number of stems and even the breed can be construed as symbolic and sending a message.
To make sure you send the right message, understand these facts about roses as your choice of birthday flowers. There are over 30 thousand varieties available, 4000-plus songs have the word "rose" in them, and Shakespeare mentions the word "rose" 70 times in various plays and sonnets. The oil from roses is used in perfumes and other parts of the flower are used in health foods. Rose is indeed the "Queen of Flowers", whether for birthday or other occasions.
The colors are symbolic: red is for love, remembrance or passion; pink is for happiness; white stands for purity; and yellow can mean infidelity. The number of the rose stems is also symbolic: a large bouquet can mean you will be forever young and beautiful, and the number of roses from 1 to 24 can mean anything from first year of marriage to a rose for each hour of the day. 13 roses may mean from a secret admirer, while 7 could just denote lucky in love. Even the type of rose is symbolic: a tea rose means "I will remember you always" and a rose with no thorns symbolizes love at first sight!
Birthday flowers are indeed wonderful. Taking the time to customize the color, type and quantity of roses will be worth the reward.
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