The rose is the official birth flower of June. This is a flower that exudes mystique – with such timeless beauty, there are many legends and stories attached to it that reach back into history. Greek mythology credits the goddess Aphrodite for creating the rose from her own tears and the blood of Adonis; while the Roman goddess Venus adopted the rose as her token of beauty and love. Venus’s son Cupid shot an arrow into his mother’ s rose garden, which legend tells us resulted in the flower’s thorns. In Roman history, ceilings were covered with ornamental roses, which created a veil of secrecy. To this day, to speak of something sub rosa means to keep it confidential.

An Arabic tradition tells that all roses were originally white in color. A beautiful nightingale fell in love with the bloom, and was inspired to sing its melodic tune for the first time. The bird’s love was so compelling that it pressed close into the rose and the thorns piercing its body drew blood from its heart, thus turning roses red from then on. Throughout their history, roses have continued to represent love, although various colors have come to symbolize different forms of love – affection, honor, gratitude and passion have all been named as emotions connected to roses.

Red roses represent romantic and sacrificial love; white roses denote purity, charm and innocence. Pink blooms express youth and young love; while yellow roses stand for freedom, joy and friendship. Purple roses most closely resemble the birthstones of June, and as such make a fitting birthday tribute to a loved one celebrating a birthday this month. At Billy Heroman’s Flower Shops, we can deliver beautiful floral arrangements, including rose bouquets, in a full spectrum of colors to best exemplify the message you wish to send. Visit one of our three Baton Rouge floral shops today to send your rose bouquets to those you love!