Roses and Valentines are two things that have long been associated with love, affection, passion, red, hearts, dinners, and of course money. Seriously speaking, have you (like me) ever wondered why every the “red letter day” of the year cue roses in? Sure, there are thousands of other more original, stunning, and beautiful gifts in the market but roses just seem to win over this battle year after year.

Roses are big talkers and have long symbolized love and passion. Valentine’s Day seem to put pressure on couples with undefined relationships. With a hazy status quo, how do you approach gift giving? Roses of different colors, count, and combinations should give you a good grasp on how to define subtly your relationship this sticky time of the year. Below is a list of that you can take in reference to this coming Valentines day:

By color:

Red Roses – defines love, passion, and respectPink Roses – communicates happiness, appreciation, admiration, friendship, and sympathy Dark Pink Roses – say “thank you”Light Pink Roses – displays grace, joy, gentility and admirationWhite Roses – signify purity, innocence, humility, charm, and silencePeach Roses – connotes modestyCoral Roses – implies desireYellow Roses – defines caring, gladness, freedom, joy, and friendshipOrange Roses – shows the feeling of fascination, desire, and enthusiasmLavender Rose – symbolizes enchantment and love at first sight

By count:

One rose says “I still love you” while a dozen says “thank you very much. ” Your partner will not only blush but be also floored upon receipt of fifty roses as this translates to unconditional love.

By combination:

A mix of red and white roses symbolizes unity. A generous yellow and orange rose mix sends passionate thoughts. I find saying “congratulations” rather weird on Valentines Day therefore please skip having a red and yellow rose mix arranged.

While Valentines Day has always been about roses, this should not restrict you from giving just these alone. Chocolates have always complemented roses nicely but recent trends show that jewelry such as rings, pendants, and brooches have been catching up. Fictional novels are always lovely to curl up to at night and so is an MP3 player that has all of your woman’s favorite love songs. Whatever your relationship is or whatever stage you are already on, just do make sure that you will not let this red-letter day pass without presenting roses.

The rose, being the most popular garden and cut plant, has over 20,000 cultivars in the Northern Hemisphere alone. This number originates from a conservative figure of only 150-200 species of wild roses. Fossil specimens found in both Colorado and Oregon show that roses have been growing for more than 30 million years to date. More fossil specimens were found in North Africa and are said to be at least 4,000 years old. Variant wise, only five of the massive figures above cut as the most popular: the Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, Grandiflora, Climber, and Miniature roses. Hybrid Tea roses were first cultivated in 1867 by a French nurseryman named Jean-Baptiste Guillot. He achieved the first Hybrid Tea by budding an old Chinese garden tea rose and a European rose. While it is not as fragrant as the other variants, it is safe to say that this rose is the most popular of all because of its wide selection of colors and its long stem that makes it ideal as a cut blossom. The Floribundas can easily be distinguished from Hybrid Teas because of their dense clusters and big, simultaneous blossoms sitting on its truss. It was first cultivated in 1909, crossing a Polyantha and a Hybrid Tea. This variant is generally easier to maintain than its parents, making it ideal for parks and similar spaces. The Grandiflora was first cultivated in the mid 1900s, crossing a Hybrid Tea and a Floribunda. Its stem is slightly shorter than a hybrid tea’s and its blossom’s size is midway its parents’. The Queen Elizabeth, the first Grandiflora, is still considered as one of the best variants of this rose class. All Old and Modern roses have their “climbing” counterparts. The canes of the Climbers’ shrubs are naturally more flexible and much longer than its bush form. Its form on Old Garden roses can generally be attributed to the natural growth habit while in Modern Garden roses, it’s actually an end result of mutating continuously. Most Climbing roses grow anywhere between 8-20 feet in height and needs to be “trained” to grow upwards by tying to structures. Miniature roses, similar to Climbers, are simply smaller versions of Old Garden Roses. This class of roses are usually twiggy in form with repeat-ing shrubs that grow anywhere between 6 to 36 inches in height. Its color range is similar to the Hybrid Tea’s and is usually marketed as houseplants.

I asked ten women which among the three cut blossoms can make them feel special or giddy the most: roses, lilies, or tulips. Roses got four votes while lilies and tulips got three each. While most women today say that they want something different and unexpected, I was quite confused why they still chose roses when other choices were presented to them. Out of the hundreds and thousands of cut plants in existence, have you ever wondered what makes the roses so special and popular after all these years?The rose has many times appeared in both mythological stories and history. A white rose from the Garden of Eden blushed and turned into red when Eve saw and kissed it. The Goddess of Purity turned a fair Greek maiden named Rodanthe into a white rose at the temple of Artemis. Faced with her suitors’ passionate gazes, the maiden blushed and turned into red. A handful of stories from both the Greek and Roman myths also associate the God of Love, Eros, to roses where rearranging his name forms the word “rose”. Our ancestors were enthralled by these stories and soon found themselves dedicating the rose to their gods. A white rose clearly symbolizes the Blessed Mother Mary while the five-petalled red rose recalls the five wounds of Christ. During the Roman aristocracy, Nero requested that his floors be covered with layers and layers of rose petals when he is expecting guests. Shakesphere also seems to be fan as he narrates in Henry VI Part1: “opposing parties pick different colored roses at the Temple Church”. Roses have long been a symbol of heraldry as well reason why it is visible on coats of arms, coins, banners, seals, paintings, stamps, even on emblems of both England and some of the American states. Over time, the rose has acquired its reputation as a symbol of exemplar virtues, compassion, purity, and gallantry. What’s most remarkable though would be its association to women: buds were sought by butterflies (as men do); its beautiful blooms and aromatic essence that seems to give one a warrant to pluck; and as it wilts and browns, it fades and unfortunately forgotten thereafter. Between all these stages, roses and women both prick and inflict pain with their sharp thorns. Based on the definitions and pieces of history above, we can definitely tell that the rose will always be recognized and treasured as a source of delight to its receiver, whatever the meaning it has in tow nor whatever form it takes. This should be a good eye opener to everyone who’s handed a bloom, as there is so much more beyond its captivating beauty and aroma.

The Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose was selected on Wednesday as the NBA rookie of the year. He became the third Bulls’ player to receive this award, besides Michael Jordan and Elton Brand. In the general voting, he received 111 first-place votes and 574 points from a voting panel of sports writers and broadcasters.

The other players in the top five were O. J. Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies, Brook Lopez of the New Jersey Nets, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Eric Gordon of the Los Angeles Clippers, but only the first three of them received first-place votes. The news was not a surprise to Bulls fans and players since Rose has been an amazing player that has brought many opportunities to the team; he helped the franchise to be on this year’s playoffs by having great performances on each of the games he had played.

Rose has been also a breath of fresh air for the team that has not been able to glow after Michael Jordan left. Before Wednesday, Rose didn’t want to say anything about the award; he actually said that he didn’t care about it, but the truth was that he did care and a lot, he wanted to win it more than anything this year. But he did not say it until he learned he was indeed the NBA rookie of the year. He also said that he knew that there were a lot of talented players out there to go against, but he always hoped he could earn it. Since the start of the season Rose has created a great impression with his talent and passion for the game. He was named rookie of the month in November, December and March.

He helped the Bulls to reach their fourth playoffs of the last five years and started it with a great contribution of 36 points and 11 assists in his team’s victory at the Game 1 of the first round against the defending champion Boston Celtics on the road; a praiseworthy accomplishment for the first playoffs game of his career. He has even been compared to LeBron James for his way of playing. “I think there are very few people in the NBA who could do what he did this year,” teammate Joakim Noah said. “You tell me another No. 1 pick who got to the playoffs in their hometown, especially in a big city with so many distractions and so many things going on.

I mean, he’s all about one thing and that’s winning basketball games, and that’s what I respect about himaE. Derrick Rose only played one year in the NCAA, recruited by Head Coach John Calipari with a scholarship at the University of Memphis.

He had some offers from the University of Illinois and the Indiana University as well, but he decided to stay at Memphis. As freshmen he helped the team to have a 33-1 record and led them to the National Championship game against Kansas, where they lost 75-68 in overtime.

He scored 17 points on 7aE”17 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and had seven assists in that game. Memphis finished the season 2007-08 with a 38-2 record and he declared for the 2008 NBA draft where he was the No. 1 pick overall selected by the Chicago Bulls.

Rose is enjoying a great moment on his professional career that is just beginning and the Chicago Bulls have all their hopes set over him. We will have to keep an eye on him to see what else he will do for his hometown team.