The United States’ national flower, the rose, is celebrated in the month of June with National Rose Month.
Why is National Rose Month celebrated?
Rose Month was started in 1959 as part of an effort to make the rose the national flower of the United States. According to the Nashville Rose Society (NRS), it wasn’t until November 29, 1986 that the idea came to fruition when President Ronald Reagan declared the rose to be the National Floral Emblem of the United States.
NRS notes that June was specifically chosen as the month to honor the rose because that is when the flower is in peak bloom.
All about roses
The most popular rose color is red, but roses naturally come in white, pink, purple, yellow, orange, and green too. There are also many engineered and painted colors for roses, but these are the only colors that naturally occur in roses.
For a full dive into the “meanings” associated with each rose color, read our previous blog here: What Different Color Roses Mean
History
The importance of roses dates back to Greek and Roman times. According to Iowa State University, rose petals were used as confetti for special events and parties in Rome. The people of Rome also hung up roses during certain meetings to symbolize that the information shared was privy only to those in attendance.
Romans also used roses in their everyday lives, placing the petals on their floors and in their baths.
However, China became the first country to cultivate roses, beginning in 551-479 BC, according to Iowa State University.
Later, Lady Mary Wortley Montague helped to solidify roses’ popularity in culture during the Victorian era in England. According to Time, Lady Montague misunderstood a Turkish tradition, which resulted in her assigning meaning to flowers. Her interpretation caught on, and Charlotte de Latour from France published the book “Langage des fleurs” based on it which romanticized the rose.
Stats & Fun Facts
- The oldest living rose is 1,000 years old (Atlas Obscura)
- You can eat rose petals or soak them in water to create rose water (Better Homes & Gardens)
- The iconic New Year’s Day Rose Parade started in 1890 (Pasadena Tournament of Roses)
- About 1 billion roses are produced every year (National Garden Bureau)
- There are more than 11,000 hybrids of roses (National Garden Bureau)
- It takes 10,000 pounds of rose petals to make one liter of rose oil (National Garden Bureau)