Valentine Roses: Fresh Picks

It comes as no surprise that the most popular flower for Valentine's Day is THE ROSE. This year Valentine's Day is Friday, February 14th and the Queen of the Garden will again reign supreme. 

 

Red roses are of course considered the ultimate gift of love. To prove such a point a whopping 69% of all roses sold on Valentine's Day are RED. This year several new varieties of 'reds' are available to give. 

 

My favorite is Red Intuition® delstriro. This beauty is described as red in color accented by dark, almost black stripes. It has an amazingly large-bloom with stem lengths of up to 31-inches. This rose is drop-dead gorgeous. 

 

'Red Mikado' is a spray rose. Meaning it has multiple blooms per stem. 'Red Mikado' won 'Best in Class' for The Society of American Florists' (SAF) 2002 'Outstanding Varieties Competition.' Its velvet-like blossoms have five to eight blooms per stem and a reported a vase-life (how long the rose will last) of up to nine days. 

 

Another newcomer is 'Black Magic,' a dark red rose. It's shape and color is very elegant with a medium to large bloom. This ultra deep red colored rose looks best when slightly opened. 

 

Much darker than 'Black Magic' is 'Black Baccara.' It is deep blood red, then "opens to a dark maroon hue." The head of the flower tends to be on the smaller size. 'Black Baccara' is not your classic 'red' rose. 

 

'Hocus Pocus' is incredibly eye-catching and exotic in appearance. "This deep-red, rose is marked with flecks of yellow and truly captivating." Vase life is reportedly seven to ten days. 

 

A rose does not necessarily have to be red to express love and other emotions on Valentine's Day. How about a green rose? A new variety called 'Super Green' is described as "bright citrus-lime" in color. You must love the color green to like this variety. This rose purports to have an incredible vase-life of up to 18 days! 

 

Bi-color roses or two-tone varieties are also very popular. A new one for 2003 is 'Flamenco.' It's a "golden yellow rose with flaming red edges." Its vase-life is reported to be eight to ten days. 

 

'Circus' is another bi-color rose and also" yellow with a deep red edge." It opens to a "fabulously full" flower and lasts up to ten days. 

 

If bright color is not desired, white roses are always appropriate and romantic. 'Avalanche' is a big favorite due to the large quantities of snowy-white petals per flower. This rose was a blue ribbon winner, again at SAF's 2002 'Outstanding Varieties Competition.' Remarkably, 'Avalanche' has a vase life that can apparently exceed two weeks! 

 

'Silverstone' is also another great performer, apparently lasting twelve to fourteen days. It is a rich soft pink or champagne colored rose. Studies show many women actually prefer pastel colored roses instead of the traditional red. 

 

With that in mind, another new pastel to watch for is 'Agua,' which is really a "lavender-pink" colored rose. Many lavender roses don't last long. However, 'Agua' is apparently different, as studies show it lasts up to two weeks. 

 

For more punch, but not red or pastel, try 'Costa.' It's a large headed rose that is stylishly brick orange in color! Vase life is reported to be up to two weeks. 

 

Color of Roses Purchased for Valentines' Day 2002 

 

• 69% of us buy Red Roses 

• 6% of us buy Pink Roses 

• 6% of us buy Yellow Roses 

• 6% of us buy Peach/Salmon Roses 

• 3% of us buy White Roses 

• 8% of us buy Bi-Color Roses 

• 2% of us buy "other" colored Roses 

• Origin of Roses Sold in America 

 

• 41% are imported from Columbia 

• 34% are imported from Ecuador 

• 9% are grown in California 

• 2% imported from Mexico 

• 1% imported from The Netherlands 

• 1% imported from Guatemala 

• "The remaining 12% come from other U.S. states and other foreign countries."