British Flowers week day 5 - Rose22 June 2018 It only seems fitting to end British Flowers week with our national flower – the Rose. The nation’s favourite flower and all round beauty. Not only is it beautiful, there’s lots to find out about the Rose, things that even we didn’t know until we did a bit of research! Here we go…. Roses are old….I mean, really old! There are Rose fossils that date back 35 million years. The oldest living Rose is thought to be 1000 years old and covers the wall at the Cathedral of Hildesheim in Germany. In 1945 the Cathedral was bombed and destroyed but the Rose survived! The most expensive Rose is called Juliet by David Austin – a firm wedding favourite. It cost over £3 million to develop and took 15 years. We think it’s worth it though; it really is a beautiful Rose. The Rose hip of some species of Rose is full of vitamin C – more than most fruit and veg. This is why it’s used to make Jams, jelly and marmalade. The buds of the smallest Rose are the size of a grain of rice It takes 2000 Roses to make 1 gram of Rose oil! The largest Rose ever grown was 33 inches in diameter and the tallest recorded was over 7 metres tall If you want to get technical, Roses don’t have thorns. They are called prickles! (who knew? We didn’t!) In the UK alone it is estimated 55 million red Roses are sold on Valentine’s Day There are over 100 species of Rose More than 54 percent of the land in Ecuador is filled with roses and Zambia surpasses this with more than 80 percent of land in Zambia being dominated with rose cultivation. Helpful and hand tips for looking after your cut Roses: DON’T bash the stems! This damages them and prevents them from drinking the water. Cut the stem at an angle with a sharp knife or scissors. This gives the stem a larger surface area to drink from and stops the bottom of the vase from blocking the bottom of the stem from the water ALWAYS use a clean vase with fresh water. Change the water every couple of days IF you see the head start to droop re-cut the stem and put it into hot, steamy water for a few minutes. Roses have woody stems and are prone to air bubbles getting stuck in the stem. The hot water pushes the air bubble out and allows the water to travel up to the head again. This also works for Hydrangeas!