Your Rose Colour Reference: What Each Colour Means!

Your Rose Colour Reference:  What Each Colour Means!

Your Rose Colour Reference: What Each Colour Means!

The rose is a flower of love. The world has acclaimed it for centuries. Pink roses are for love hopeful and expectant. White roses are for love dead or forsaken, but the red roses, ah the red roses are for love triumphant.   ~Unknown 
According the the University of Illinois, the rose plant (Rosa genus) is about 35 million years old. Beloved for their long blooming period, fragrance and beauty, there are around 150 species of roses, with many more cultivars, or varieties. Let’s consider the versatility of this simple, beautiful and so-very-popular flower.  The meanings conveyed by this timeless bloom are as varied as the their seemingly infinite silky layers.  It’s hard to think of anything else, flower or otherwise, that conveys a feeling so succinctly and with such beauty, engaging our most vital senses. Conveying everything from love to sympathy to friendship and beyond, if you’re looking to say exactly the right thing, a rose – or better yet, a bouquet of roses – can help deliver your message with emotion and impact. To ensure you’re making the perfect statement, here’s a helpful guide to navigating rose colour as well as a few hints as to the significance of the quantity as well.

RED:  Love, beauty, passion, courage, respect, romantic love, congratulations, “I love you”, “job well done”.

RED (DARK)/ DEEP BURGUNDY: Unconscious beauty.

RED (SINGLE): “I love you”.

WHITE:  Purity, innocence, silence, secrecy, reverence, humility, youthfulness, heavenly, “I am worthy of you”.

WHITE (BRIDAL): Happy, optimistic love.

PINK:  Appreciation, grace, happiness, admiration, gentleness, “Thank you”.

DARK PINK: Appreciation, gratitude, “Thank you”.

LIGHT PINK: Admiration, sympathy, gentleness, grace, gladness, joy, sweetness.

YELLOW:   Joy, gladness, friendship, delight, jealousy, promise of a new beginning, “Welcome back, “Remember me”, “I care”.

YELLOW, RED TIPPED:  Friendship, falling in love.

ORANGE: Desire, enthusiasm, fascination.

PEACH:  Appreciation, sincerity, gratitude, closing the deal, “Let’s get together”.

PALE PEACH: Modesty.

CORAL: Desire.

LAVENDER:  Love at first sight, enchantment.

BLUE:  The unattainable, the impossible.

BLACK: Farewell, death.

RED & WHITE TOGETHER:  Unity.

RED & YELLOW TOGETHER:  Joy, happiness.

RED ROSEBUD:  Purity and loveliness

WHITE ROSEBUD:  Girlhood, innocence.

WITHOUT THORNS:  Love at first sight.

Wait!  It’s not all about the colour.  Sometimes it’s the number of roses you give that’s significant:

SINGLE OF ANY COLOUR:  Simplicity, devotion, gratitude.

TWO ROSES ENTWINED:  “Marry me!”

SIX ROSES:  need to be loved or cherished.

ELEVEN ROSES: assure the recipient they are truly and deeply loved.

THIRTEEN ROSES: a secret admirer!

A DOZEN RED ROSES:  perfect beauty, complete love and gratitude. One dozen red roses have become the definitive symbol for true love.