Ten Interesting Facts About Roses To Blow Your Mind

These words, spoken by Juliet in Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, allude to the rose’s symbolic nature – beautiful, sweet-smelling, enigmatic, and romanticized throughout the ages. A beloved’s smile, a friend’s hug, an official token or a kind touch, everything seems complete and fulfilled through a bunch of roses. Also used worldwide as an ingredient of rich perfumes, this beautiful flower has inspired artists, poets and song composers. Let’s discuss some of the most exciting facts about roses that will make you experience the unfathomable beauty of these flowers innovatively.

If you love the incredible majesty of roses, you might also be interested in reading about some of the other beautiful flowers of the world.

Rose Fossils Have Been Discovered Dating Back 35 Million Years

We’ve heard of animal fossils dating back millions of years, but Paleontologists have also discovered thousands of plant fossils from bygone eras and rose fossils are possibly some of the most interesting of all. The world’s first rose fossil was discovered in Florissant, Colorado, as an imprint over a slate deposit. The fossils are currently being kept in the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Black Roses Don’t Exist

Truly black roses do not exist, although a few species of roses come close. The Turkish Halfeti rose, also known as “The Black Rose of Turkey”, is an extremely rare breed that appears pitch-black to the eye but is a dark reddish-crimson colour. Seeing these beautiful black roses in bloom is a unique and rare experience, so if you’re ever in Turkey during the summer months, be sure to check them out.

Juliet, The Most Expensive Rose

Introduced to the world in 2006 by famed rose breeder David Austin, the Juliet rose took 15 years and £3 million (about $5 million) to breed. The rose is apricot-coloured and is said to have a very light, sensual fragrance. The rose blooms, when opened, reveal a neat array of petals nestling within the folds in the centre of the bloom – a sensational sight to behold!

2009 Marks The Arrival Of The First Blue Rose

Prior to November 2009, blue roses did not exist, although they were highly sought after. To fill demand, florists would dye the white varieties and sell them in a blue garb to supply the blue roses to market – until Suntory announced their new breed of blue rose, named APPLAUSE. The roses contain nearly 100% blue pigment in their petals and are truly a sight to behold. In 2011 Suntory announced that they would begin selling their blue roses in North America.

Sometimes Size Does Matter

Nikita K. Rulhoksoffski, a California-based rose grower and hybridizer, is said to have bred the largest rose bloom in the world. He showed off his massive creation at the local rose show – a pink rose with a 33-inch (84 cm) diameter, whose stem reached out to about 6 feet (1.8m). Apparently, the rose had to be placed on the floor as it was too large for the display table.

NASA Sent The First Rose Into Space

The rose found its way to space in 2002 during a collaboration between Dr. Braja Mookherjee, an IFF (International Flavors and Fragrances) researcher, and NASA. The miniature rose, named the ‘Overnight Scentsation’, journeyed to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery Flight STS-95 in order to aid in studies regarding the effects of low gravity on the smell of the rose in order to help learn how to improve the fragrances of many consumer products.

The Oldest Rose Bush In The World

The world’s oldest rosebush is located on the wall of St. Mary’s Cathedral, located in Hildesheim, Germany, and dates back to around 1000 years (around AD 815). It stands as a testament to Hildesheim’s endurance and even survived the destruction of the Cathedral in 1945 by enemy bombers.

All Rose Species Have 5 Petals, Except For one

Mostly found growing in the mountains at altitudes of around 2-4km, the Rosa Sericea is the only species of rose to possess four petals. This breed of rose made its journey to Europe in the nineteenth century from the Himalayas.

The Largest Rosebush In The World

Have you ever rested under a rosebush along with over 100 people? Well, in Tombstone, Arizona, you can! The world’s largest rosebush is of the Lady Banksia variety and comprises a whopping 200,000 blossoms when in full bloom. To give you a sense of scale, the rosebush’s canopy comprises 8,500 square feet (around 790 square meters), and its trunk has a circumference of around 12 feet.

A Great Source Of Vitamin C

Who would ever imagine that this envied beauty also scores high on nutrition? The rose hip (the fruit of the rose plant) contains high amounts of vitamin C and trace amounts of vitamins A and B, and is considered one of the richest plant sources of vitamin C.