"Where is it?" My landlady asked her boyfriend after he gave her a birthday kiss. "What?" he asked back. "Oh, forget it" she said, and she hurried to her room and closed the door behind her. She never came out again, until everyone, including her hubby, had left. We found the reason for her strange actuation: he didn't bring her flowers - her favorite yellow roses - on her birthday.
That happened many years ago. But on that day in 1979 I realized something deeper, something mysterious, must be hidden in those petals that have the power to alter people's feelings, to make or break relationships. There must be something in this flower that makes people happy one minute, and makes them sad the next. Roses, I learned, were no ordinary flowers.
Roses are the symbols of love, beauty and romance. They are the oldest flowers ever known, and they are the most popular and most loved flowers on the entire planet. Roses are cherished because of their beauty and their fragrance. Poets love roses particularly because, like a poem, they can say so much without saying much at all. Daughters like to send pink roses to mom on Mother's Day. A junior student can say "thank you" without really saying it by sending a peach rose to a senior who helped her write her term paper.
It is hard to imagine a life without roses. Every day is a birthday, a wedding day, an engagement day, a graduation day or a promotion day of somebody. What better way to greet or congratulate that person than to send a stalk or a bouquet of roses arranged beautifully?
Some people even value roses more than food or worldly treasures. One of them, poet Emma Goldman declared, "I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds 'round my neck". And another poet, Jean Richepin, put it more emphatically when he wrote, "One may live without bread, not without roses."
While a few may question the wisdom of these statements, some sense can be made of them. First, the smell or scent of roses soothes the muscles and produces oxygen for the lungs and brain, raising the energy level and thus adding more "life" to the body. Second, the rose variety opens excellent business opportunities and growing them gives tremendous economic benefits. Studies show that the cut flower industry (sale of flowers internationally), of which roses account for more than two-thirds of all types, exceeds $40 billion every year. Finally, nothing compares to the joy you feel as you savor the petals of a red rose you're holding in your hand.
But what if there were no more rose flowers? Everything goes back to normal. Jobs continue to be done. Chairmen preside over board meetings. Crops are planted and harvested. Products are hauled to market. Laundries are washed. Food is served. Life goes on. But it will be a life of less meaning, without joy, and without love. "A life with love," said another poet, "will have some thorns, but a life without love will have no roses."
Find out more about flowers in our Rose flowers guide.
This article is Copyrighted to Ioana Iacob - Online Flowers Guide.
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