Why the Rose is still THE flower for Valentine’s

Valentine’s is nearly here and after years of someone asking me what is a good flower for Valentine’s, I felt its good to talk about it. Some know the answer to this question by default, they probably are not aware why, but they know.

The rose, after all these years is still a favorite, and rightly so.

Why?

Well, I suppose the answer is also the same as when someone asked me, if I were a flower what would I be?  It was for a mock-up interview and it was a Ms. Universe question I know, but its also a fun question to answer.

Without any hesitation, I gamely said, a ROSE.  Hephephep, before any violent reactions, I do not mean I am as beautiful as the flower but it is the flower I feel the most connected to.

Thinking more about it, I could safely say that it is true for most women.

Rose varieties run in the thousands, each one has its own characteristic, petal structure, color and hardiness.  Some are slow to bloom, some too fast, and some don’t.  Some are intoxicatingly fragrant, some don’t even have any scent at all.  But all are beautiful in their own way.

I’m not being poetic here but if you would take the time and look at the flower itself, you would be amazed at how beautifully intricate it is.  Looking at it deeply you would be amazed at how it blooms.  Slowly (or not) it opens itself rather tentatively to reveal what is inside, as if protecting some wonderful secret.  (Did I already mention how it is true for most women?)

But what about the LOVE part?  Why do poets of old and new still wax poems of love equated with the rose?

For those who tried to buy the rose plants in nurseries in the hope of having these lovelies bloom in their garden, know how hard it is to coax them to flower as it did when they first bought it.

Much like love, tender care is needed to care for it to grow, bloom, and last for a lifetime.

And so much like the thorns and flower, pain and beauty is all but part of the journey we will all have with the elusive and much coveted feeling of LOVE.

So when you give the rose at Valentine’s, you give someone that message of depth of feeling that words will not capture but the heart will understand.