Celebrate Roses

This blog post is packed to the brim with facts, activities, and book suggestions for one of the most popular flowers in the garden: roses! June is National Rose Month (and red roses are so popular they get their own day on June 12, dubbed Red Rose Day) so we thought it would be fun to celebrate with some cool facts about this floral favorite, a neat paper rose activity, and a list of books you can pick up at your local CCPL branch! We even found some famous paintings for you to look at. Artists have been fascinated by flowers for years, and roses have been prominently featured in a lot of artists’ work. So get your green thumb ready and help us celebrate National Rose Month!

8 Amazing Rose Facts

  • There are over 150 species of wild roses and more than 30,000 cultivated species.
  • Roses have been around for what seems like forever. Archaeologists have discovered rose fossils dating back 35 million years.
  • Rose plants can live a long time. The oldest living rose is 1,000 years old. This impressive rose grows on a wall of the Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany.
  • Rose bushes are vines by nature and will grow wherever they are left to grow. Many people prune or trim their bushes to maintain a certain height or shape. The world’s tallest rose bush, at 18.8 feet, was recorded in 2017.
  • The size of a rose varies by plant species but can range from ½ inch to over 7 inches across.
  • Roses come in pretty much every color except black. What might sometimes be referred to as a black rose is actually a dark red rose. A good example is “The Black Rose of Turkey,” a breed that appears pitch-black to the eye but has a dark reddish-crimson color.
  • All roses are edible and included in many dessert and pastry recipes, including rose petal jam.
  • If you’ve ever smelled a soap, perfume, or other product that smelled like roses, it was probably made with rose oil. It takes over 250 pounds of rose petals to make one ounce of rose oil.
  • A miniature rose plant of the variety ‘Overnight Sensation’ was a passenger aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle to study gravity’s effect on the plant’s production of essential oils.

Did you know that every month, a flower is assigned like the birthstone? June is the month of the rose. Which flower is your birth month? 

  • January: Carnation and Snowdrop
  • February: Violet and Primrose
  • March: Daffodil and Jonquil
  • April: Daisy and Sweet Pea
  • May: Lily of the Valley and Hawthorn
  • June: Rose and Honeysuckle
  • July: Delphinium and Water Lily
  • August: Gladiolus and Poppy
  • September: Aster and Morning Glory
  • October: Cosmos and Marigold
  • November: Chrysanthemum
  • December: Holly and Narcissus

10 Amazing rose paintings to brighten your day

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Bouquet of Roses (1883)
Bouquet of Roses (1883)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Henri Fantin-Latour, Roses in a Bowl (1883)
Roses in a Bowl (1883)

Henri Fantin-Latour

Vincent van Gogh, Roses (1890)
Roses (1890)

Vincent van Gogh

Edouard Manet, Roses in a Glass Vase (1883)
Roses in a Glass Vase (1883)

Edouard Manet

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Still Life with Roses in a Glass Vase (1619)
Still Life with Roses in a Glass Vase (1619)

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder

John Singer Sargent, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (1886)
Lily, Lily, Rose (1886)

John Singer Sargent, Carnation

Paul de Longpre, Roses and Bumblebees (1904)
Roses and Bumblebees (1904)

Paul de Longpre

Georgia O'Keeffe, White Rose and Larkspur (1927)
White Rose and Larkspur (1927)

Georgia O'Keeffe

Peder Severin Krøyer, roses (1893)
roses (1893)

Peder Severin Krøyer

Vincent Keeling, Rose (2015)
Rose (2015)

Vincent Keeling

Fun flower-themed activities and places to try this summer

Books

How To Speak Flower: A Kid's Guide To Buds, Blooms, And Blossoms

We give/receive flowers for various reasons, but have you ever wondered what these beautiful flowers are trying to say? In this fully illustrated book, young readers will learn how everything from the color to the genus of a flower can communicate the simplest message. This is not your typical gardening book with step-by-step instructions for prepping soil, planting seeds, etc. (although we’ll have a section on how to grow the perfect garden for your personality). Channel your inner horticulturist and learn the language of flowers!

An Alphabet In Bloom By Nathalie Trovato

An Alphabet In Bloom by Nathalie Trovato

In this wordless alphabet book, children will explore the many places where plants grow, from the familiar to the fantastical. Readers will be enchanted by Nathalie Trovato’s colorful cut paper illustrations along their journey from A to Z.

Flowers Are Pretty Weird! By Rosemary Mosco

Flowers Are Pretty Weird! by Rosemary Mosco

Warning — this book contains top-secret information about flowers! Prepare to be shocked and weirded out by this hilarious and true picture book introduction to some of nature’s strangest plants. Flowers are beautiful. They have bright colors, soft petals, and sweet nectar. Yum! But that’s not the whole truth. Flowers can be WEIRD … and one bee is here to let everyone know!

What's Inside A Flower?: And Other Questions About Science & Nature By Rachel Ignotofsky

Have you ever wondered what’s inside a flower? Ignotofsky explores how flowers bloom from a tiny seed, the ways seeds travel, and much more.

Fantastic Flowers By Susan Stockdale

Fantastic Flowers by Susan Stockdale

This book introduces young readers to a range of unusual flowers that resemble something completely different. It provides each flower’s common and scientific names, native range, the insects that pollinate them, and an explanation of the pollination process.

The Secret World Of Plants: Tales Of More Than 100 Remarkable Flowers, Trees, And Seeds By Ben Hoare

Plants are found almost everywhere on Earth, but to many people, their lives are a mystery. Learn how seagrass flowers underwater, how the Venus flytrap counts to make sure it catches its prey, and why some tulips used to cost more than a house! This fascinating book for kids explores the vast plant kingdom and explains how plants work and the weird and wonderful relationships they have with animals.

Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer By Sarah B. Pomeroy And Jeyaraney Kathirithamby

Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer by Sarah B. Pomeroy And Jeyaraney Kathirithamby

In 1660, at the age of thirteen, Maria Sibylla Merian began her study of butterfly metamorphosis years before any other scientist accurately described the process. Later, Merian and her daughter ventured thousands of miles from their home in the Netherlands into the rainforests of South America, seeking new and amazing insects and flowers to observe and illustrate.

Georgia O'Keeffe: She Saw The World In A Flower By Gabrielle Balkan

A picture book biography of the life of American painter Georgia O’Keeffe. Includes a timeline of her works and related art appreciation activities.

Celia Planted A Garden : The Story Of Celia Thaxter And Her Island Garden By Phyllis Root

Celia Thaxter grew up on a desolate island off the coast of Maine, where her father worked as a lighthouse keeper. Amid the white and gray of the sea, the rocks, and even the birds, young Celia found color where she could: green mosses and purple starfish and pink morning glories by the shore. And she planted her first garden, tucking bright marigolds between rocky ledges. When she was twelve, Celia’s family moved to nearby Appledore Island, where her father built a large hotel. Celia planted a bigger, ever-growing garden with nearly sixty types of flowers, from asters to wisteria.

Flowers By Melanie Waldron

Flowers by Melanie Waldron

Flowers carry out a vital job for all flowering plants: They enable plants to reproduce. This book provides readers with a complete and comprehensive understanding of flowers’ role, their structure, and how they are brilliantly designed to do this job. A wide range of examples presents readers with flowers they will be familiar with, plus spectacular and unusual examples from around the world. 

Make a 3-D paper rose

Steps:

  1. Print and color the rose pattern. Standard weight copy paper works best; you don’t want your paper to be too thick, as you will be rolling it in future steps. 
  2.  Cut out your rose, remember to cut it into a spiral; it will resemble a snake.
  3. Add a small piece of tape or glue on the end to secure your rose together.

Make a 3-D paper rose

Start cutting here, going into the spiral.

Make a 3-D paper rose: Part 2