"Grandma, What is a Rose?"

Last time I saw Haven I asked her if she knew what a rose was. She said "no", so here is the internet research on what is a rose?

With their far-reaching popularity, roses are the queens of flowers. After buttercup, the roses are the second oldest variety of flowers on the planet. Biologists can trace roses back some 200 million years! The ancient Greeks and Romans identified rose with Aphrodite and Venus – goddesses of love. There was a tradition in Rome where a wild rose was placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase ‘sub rosa’ (under the rose), meaning, “to keep a secret”, is derived from this ancient Roman practice. Early Christians identified the five petals of rose with the five wounds of Christ. Roses also signify the symbol associated with the Virgin Mary.When Aphrodite cried about the death of her lover Adonis, she had red "Adonis Roses" grown with his blood, - thus red roses are the symbol of never-ending love. Cleopatra filled an entire room with rose petals when her love, Anthony, returned home.

The giving of a single rose is a practice that has long been popular and the gift of flowers has not only become synonymous with romantic holidays like Valentines Day but also as a gesture of love, friendship or care . The poignancy and simplicity of a single rose is indicative of true love and literally means “I love you”. The most traditional time to give a single rose is on Valentine’s Day. The rose is quite unique as far as gifts for loved ones go. The rule that less is more works equally as well as giving a dozen or even more roses. A single rose signifies love at first sight or that you still love someone whereas a dozen roses means “be mine”. On the other hand 15 roses means that you are truly sorry. Two dozen roses signifies “forever yours”. The number of roses you buy someone really does have a deep meaning.

No single flower has the kind of universal appeal as that enjoyed by roses. Love is considered as the global language and rose is historically considered as the medium of expressing love and beauty. As a result, in addition to assisting the expression of love through gifts, roses are used in the manufacture of famous perfumes and other products to freshen up their essence.

Roses come in hundreds (and maybe thousands!) of varieties and it is believed that there is a rose for every human emotion. Rose is called the “Queen of Flowers”! According to the Victorian “language of flowers”, different colored roses have their own symbolic meaning. See the chart below.

Roses come in almost every color but contrary to popular belief, there are no blue or black roses. A true blue rose has so far been proved elusive for the rose breeders. Roses do not have the genes to produce a blue color. Similarly the black roses (as they appear) are very dark reds, or dark purples, and some red varieties even have petals that burn to black in the sun, but there are no true black roses.


red

Red roses are the traditional symbol for love and romance, and a time-honored way to say "I love you." The red rose has long symbolized beauty and perfection. A bouquet of red roses or a single rose is the perfect way to express your deep feelings for someone special.

pink

As a symbol of grace and elegance, the pink rose is often given as an expression of admiration. Pink roses can also convey appreciation as well as joyfulness. Pink rose bouquets often impart a gentler meaning than their red counterparts.

yellow

The bright, sunny color of yellow roses evokes a feeling of warmth and happiness. The warm feelings associated with the yellow rose are often akin to those shared with a true friend. As such, the yellow rose is an ideal symbol for joy and friendship.

white

White roses represent innocence and purity and are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings. The white rose is also a symbol of honor and reverence, and white rose arrangements are often used as an expression of remembrance.

orange

With their blazing energy, orange roses are the embodiment of desire and enthusiasm. Orange roses often symbolize passion and excitement and are an expression of fervent romance. A bouquet of orange roses will send a meaningful message.

lavender

The unique beauty of the lavender rose has captured many hearts and imaginations. With their fantastical appearance, lavender roses are a perfect symbol of enchantment. The lavender rose is also traditionally used to express feelings of love at first sight.

Meaning of the color of roses

http://www.rkdn.org/roses/colors.asp

So you want to make your valentine a wrist corsage, here are steps to do this task:

First, be sure the rose picked are not large ones, because the general sized person needs a cluster of three smaller ones. The roses should be cleared of green leaves and thorns (there is a thorn remover gadget that can be used). Cut stems at a slant. Keep in water or watered oasis foam until ready to use.
Using a 22 gauge floral wire, insert the floral wire at the rose base bump through one side to and outside the other side to a length of 3 inches.
Twist the short length along with the long length along the cut stem. Keep the entire length no greater than 5 inches.
Using floral tape above the wire level, begin twisting it around and around overlapping slightly to the base of the wire. NOTE: you will be twirling the rose with your left hand and controlling the tape with your right hand. Floral tape can be torn off…look for no gaps and taunt coverage and tape that sticks to each other. Do all the roses the very same way and place three smaller roses in row.
You will need circles of a correlating fabric. These circles of netting should be around 3 inches. Do up a lot of these BEFORE the assembly as this is a tedius task. Once the circles are cut, fold each circle in half, in quarters and half again. Holding the netting in the left hand, wrap a 6” floral tape wrapped wire (22 gauge) and twist a couple time at the point end of the folded netting circle. You can tape both ends together if you wish.
A good filler like wax flowers (whitish/purplish) is better than baby’s breath for filler in a corsage. Any way, the cuts off this should be no more than 2-3 inches in stem with the leafs removed off the stem, each corsage will use will use up at least one-two stems to each rose used. Arrange 1-2 stems to the back of each rose and tape the wire length again. Place these cluster again in a row on your workspace.
Behind the rose/filler cluster place one netting twist as prepared in step 5. Again go over the wire taping length again. Arrange your clusters together in a pleasing triad arrangement or two with stems down at top and one with a stem up. This time you will need to cut the base off with a wire cutter to a length needed to tape these flowers together at the center. To cover the ends of the rose clusters wire: use the floral tape with raw edges going toward the top at a 1” level at the base. Bring the tape under the base of the stem and up to the level of tape where it started and begin rewrapping the end of stem. In center leave enough room to insert a bow.
You are ready to put the wrist corsage mechanism on before the bow. It just clamps on both sides of the center with pinching.
Bows can be made ahead of the assembly process: To do this it is much easier with a wire edged ribbon because if it gets smashed no problem or if you want to cover and arrange the bow loops it is much easier! I think you know how to do these, but be sure it is much smaller and have a 6” floral tape wrapped wire (22 gauge) ready to tie through the loops, cut the ends of the bow at a slant. Tie the loose ends around the center of the corsage and bring down against the other stems, cut and rewrap…this should not be showing at all to the back.
In the final application, I like to apply leaves or like to finish the back and cover all the wiring mechanism. To add a leaf, take each leaf leaving a short stem, Using a wire like you are sewing take a stitch up ½” and cross over the center stem and stitch down the other side of the stem until you have two wires parallel. Using the floral tape again, wrap the stems covering your wire stitching to a length of 3 inches. It all depends what type of leaves you have to work with as to how this all is arranged, but in the end it must be FLAT on the back! Again cover the work you add in the back.

NOTE: In the wrapping process you are trying to eliminate bulk---stems leaves, extra wires, etc. The corsage will become more streamlined. In general, the thinner the stem and the more twiggy the filler the better to work with.

Here is the supply list for wrist corsage (or corsage): couple sacks of 22 gauge wire, cluster of wax filler flowers, cluster of leaves/ferns (one per corsage), three small roses (or mini carnations or asteomeria stem) per wrist corage/ corsage, netting circles (one per each rose), three rounds of floral tape (green); wire cutter, rolls of ¼” wired edge ribbon (each roll will do couple bows), wristlet elastic-clamp on type (one per wrist corsage), baggies for bagging, sharp knife, I think that’s all.

To keep the roses healthy: there is rose powder at florist shops in packets or bulk that keeps roses fresh when applied to water; wristlets for wrist corsages are sold there too! The rest you can get at hobby lobby or walmart.