As professional florists, we often get asked questions about Rose colour meanings. Does it matter what colour rose I send to a girl? Are the meanings of the colours of the roses really significant? Is it meaningful if I give a certain number of Roses?
These are the 13 most common questions we get asked about the symbolism, and meanings behind different colours of Roses.
Read on and find out more:
The Victorians using their "Language of Flowers" (Floriography), first gave in-depth romantic meanings to garden Roses, and each colour rose carried an exquisite meaning for communicating in secret. Flower Meanings were also ascribed to other blooms such as daisies, bluebells, violets and all flowers, leaves, and seed pods growing around them.
These olde-worlde traditions were inspired and influenced by the era of Queen Victoria, and the fashions and style from her conservative Court from 1837-1901. These were strict times of manners, and expected moral behaviour whilst courting.
Young couples used posies of flowers, to convey secret messages of love. Beautiful Roses were always the centrepiece of these floral tussie-mussies (Posies). As we all know - Roses are of course, the symbol of love and affection. This romantic tradition has been revived, with renewed interest in the meanings behind different coloured roses.
Floriography is a really interesting subject in our floral world, and expands further on our earlier blog post The meaning of flowers. You may also enjoy to read more about symbolism of your Birth Flowers & Birthstones per month.
Roses are renowned for being the perfect floral gift for any special occasion! In truth, most people are thrilled to receive a thoughtful gift of roses in any colour, and for any special occasion.
There is a whimsical, charming TikTok trend of modern couples looking more deeply at the historic rose colours, and deeper flower meanings for fun research or for symbolic gifting, or planning for a significant bouquet.
Whether she is searching if there is a special meaning behind the coloured roses she has just received on her birthday, or maybe he wants to check out what the meaning of her favourite coloured roses are, when planning a suprise proposal, or meaningful anniversary rose bouquet.
Or perhaps you are looking to discover which is the perfect rose to send as a romantic gift for Valentines Day to show your true feelings.
Or are you engaged and excitedly investigating the different meanings of rose colours, while planning and choosing your wedding flowers & bouquets.
Yes, there is symbolism, and historic meanings behind the rose colours as you will learn, but all flowers are beautiful, and the feeling of giving and receiving flowers, far outweighs what colour they are.
Looking for a florist near you in Auckland to send a rose bouquet? Explore our beautiful range of roses and enjoy free same-day flower delivery across Auckland with Best Blooms.
I am sure it's no surprise to learn that yes, Red Roses do mean Love! The enduring meaning behind giving a bouquet of Red Roses, is a traditional gesture of love and romance, and has been this way for generations!
The romantic symbolism behind a beautiful red rose means;
I Love You, Desire, strong feelings of Passion, Lust & Affection.
Red and White Roses given together mean Unity & Togetherness.
Red Roses are a symbolic, meaningful gift to send for a romantic anniversary, Valentine's Day, or a gift for a special day to honour your significant other.
With these romantic meanings behind these beautiful flowers, it's no wonder Red Roses are the World's favourite flower to symbolise your feelings of Love!
Help - It's Valentine's Day and I don't want to send red roses - and give her the wrong meaning!
What colour roses mean I Like You?
If you want to veer away from red roses, but still show affection, our florists recomend these other coloured roses as safe Valentine's alternatives:
Pink roses mean admiration, delicate peach roses mean appreciation, and you send yellow roses to your friends.
We also offer a beautiful mixed colour rose bouquet, which is a perfect friendship gift. Roses are beautiful in all colours, and are still a significant gift to send to your crush, no matter what colour bloom you choose.
The special meaning behind White roses are the symbol of pure love and innocence. This is why white roses are the traditional flower to include in your wedding bouquets.
Popular white roses available in New Zealand Florist shops are "Avalanche", "Alaska" and "Akito" roses.
White roses also mean respect and revererance, and these blooms have spiritual and heavenly connotations. This means a bouquet including white roses, is a thoughtful and poignant sympathy gift, to send your condolences on the loss of a loved one.
Our florists include elegant white roses in our sympathy bouquets, with these symbolic meanings of love, purity and rememberance to honour the deceased.
Soft, pale pink roses convey meanings of admiration, gentleness, joy and sweetness. There is a large colour range of soft pink roses in the florist shop, from feminine light pink roses such as "Sweet Avalanche", to "Anamieke" or " Sweet Akito".
Bolder dark pink roses show appreciation, and gratitude. You'll find hot pink roses such as " Gem", "Hoodwink" or "Jacaranda" at Best Blooms to show your thanks.
Sending a bouquet of feminine pink roses and pure white roses, send the vibes of admiration, purity, and sweet love.
Pink roses are a pretty rose to send as an alternative valentines bouquet, and are a popular colour for romance bouquets, with these gracious, feminine meanings.
Pink roses are a popular choice to send your love to family members, with their sybolic meanings of admiration, gratitude and appreciation. Yellow roses convey warmth and friendship, and of course red roses mean love. When gifting roses to a family member, consider their personal tastes and colour preferences - when given with love, all roses show that you care.
At Best Blooms we always try to include Roses in our bouquets if available, so an alternative to sending only roses is to send a mixture of blooms and include roses, such as our prettiest pink bouquet.
Warm and vibrant, yellow roses carry the traditional meaning of friendship and joy, when gifted to a friend. Always appreciated!
A bright, sunny yellow rose is perfect to send to your friends, to celebrate their accomplishments and joyfulness on a special occasion, and evoke warm feelings of friendship.
In New Zealand the yellow roses you will find in a florist shop are usually "Sansa", "Lightening" or "Illiois" roses.
It's true to say that in Victorian times yellow roses did convey jealousy in their floral posies, filled with meanings to communicate their feelings. However in modern times, yellow roses have a joyful happy meaning, of friendship and new beginnings. You can also choose to send a bouquet such as our cheerful sunshine bouquet and include joyful yellow roses within the display.
To send your thanks and show appreciation, you can't go wrong with a gift including beautiful peach roses. A peach coloured rose represents gratitude, sincerity and thankfulness.
You could also show your appreciation with dark pink roses as these convey grateful thanks, and show how much you appreciate them.
Our local NZ rose growers provide us with "Peach Avalanche" roses, "Mylenna" and "Peach Melba" Roses in these lovely shades.
The meaning behind Orange roses with their rich warm colour are enthusiasm, passion, desire and fascination. Wow! This means you could send orange roses for Valentine's Day, either mixed with red roses or even blended with hot pink roses to send a bouquet that conveys meanings of passion, appreciation, desire and lust.
The orange roses you will find in store are likely to be "Milva", "Kingsday" or "Whiskey".
Best Blooms Zingy Orange Bouquet blends a mixture of hot orange seasonal flowers, and orange roses, and is a popular floral gift to send.
Behind every rose is a traditional symbolic meaning, from joy, love, appreciation, thankfulness admiration and lust.
As a florist I believe that sending any colour roses shows how much you are thinking of them, sending your best wishes and showing how much you care. It's true that both the giving - and the receiving of flowers, conveys feelings of joy for you both.
In New Zealand, we are fortunate to have beautiful fresh N.Z grown roses available all year round, in a wide choice of colours. Have some fun, try sending a bouquet of roses based on the meaning of the colour roses, and see if they can guess the symbolic meaning behind your roses.
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Love, Passion, Affection, Desire |
|---|---|
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I Love You |
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Be Mine, I Love You |
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Given together this signifies Unity |
|
Virtue, Pureness, Unity, New Love |
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Admiration, Gentleness. Message of Sympathy |
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Appreciation, Gratitude, Thankfulness |
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Friendship, Joy, Get Well |
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Enthusiasm, Passion, Gratitude |
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Appreciation & Thank You, Modesty, Demureness, Shyness |
|
Enchantment, Love at First Sight |
Inspiration - Flowers that mean Love:
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Author: Jo-Ann Moss - Senior Florist - Best Blooms Auckland NZ | 18 March 2025, 11:57 PM
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