Valentine's Day
<p>Lizzie Lapierre stocks the flower case with roses at Jackie’s Flowers in Superior. Jackie orders 500 roses for area residents in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. “The red roses always go first,” said owner Jackie Callison.</p>
Valentine’s Day, a day of hearts, candy, and flowers. When couples express their undying love for one another. When a friend tells a friend that they care, or a child tell their parents they love them. A day full of sentiment and expressions of caring. One of the most popular ways to show those emotions are with flowers, roses to be exact. According to aboutflowers.com, 250 million roses will be bought on Valentine’s Day. Americans will spend $2.1 billion on flowers. It’s the number one holiday for florist.
Men who buy flowers for their wife is the most popular purchase. Buying flowers for Mom ranks second, followed by purchasing flowers for a friend. Purchasing flowers for yourself ranks fourth.
Jackie Callison, owner of Jackie’s Flowers Espresso and Gifts in Superior, said that she’ll order about 500 roses for the occasion. Callison’s shop is the only floral shop in Mineral County, and Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day are her two busiest days of the year. Red roses are the most popular flower exchanged (37%). They’re given to those who you want to show love and passion, people who you have great respect for, and those who have shown great courage. The quantity can also have a special meaning. A single red rose shows love, a dozen shows gratitude, twenty-five shows congratulations and fifty show unconditional love.
A mix of colors ranks second on the popularity scale (20%). With Lavender coming in third (9%). Lavender represents love at first sight, and enchantment. Peach is the next most popular rose exchanged (7%) and represents appreciation, or ‘let’s get together’. It also means sincerity, and gratitude. Yellow ties with peach and represents gladness, friendship, delight, the ‘promise of a new beginning’, ‘remember me’ and jealousy. Pink is next and means ‘thank you’, perfect happiness, admiration, gentleness and ‘please believe me’ (6%). White follows pink (5%) and represents innocence, secrecy, reverence, humility, ‘I am worthy of you’, youthfulness, and heavenly.
In 1913, poet, Gertrude Stein, couldn’t have said it better, on February 14, a “rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.”