The Rose is our ‘Flower of the Month’ for June.

A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be erect shrubs, climbing, or trailing, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles.

Their flowers vary in size and shape and are usually large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows and reds.

Fun Facts!

• Rose flowers’ vary in size from tiny miniatures 1.25 cm (0.5 inch) in diameter to hybrid flowers measuring more than 17.5 cm (7 inches) across.

• Roses have prickles, not thorns. Botanically speaking, thorns have deeper roots in a plants’ stem, but prickles attach at the surface and are more easily removed.

• According to the Guinness Book of Records, roses are one of the oldest flowers and archaeologists have discovered rose fossils that date back 35 million years.

• The oldest living rose is 1000 years old and grows on the wall of the Hildesheim Catherdral in Germany

• The Rose is the U.S National Flower. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared the rose the national flower emblem of the U.S. whilst standing in the famous White House Rose Garden.

• Each Rose colour has a different meaning:
  
  Red: Love & Romance
  Pink: Grace & Elegance
  Yellow: Friendship & Cheer
  White: Purity & Innocence & Spirituality
  Orange: Enthusiasm & Energy