Those of us with closets brimming with black clothes know that purple can be a tough color to pull off. Obviously, no one wears it better for every occasion than purple roses.
Understanding the ways color changes how we see the world; would we see the same beauty in this world without purple? Would sunsets have the same grandeur? What color would Prince’s rain be? Would the eggplant emoji be a zucchini?
Roses are designed to look elegant and sexy to bees to attract them for pollination. Could this be why we send flowers to people we’re attracted to? A purple rose is a frequent flower new lovers use to pledge their devotion in floral form.
Purple Roses are Beautiful by Design
There’s a short list of purple flowers that grow naturally without any help from human intervention including lavender, verbena, and bellflower. However, many purple roses come from combining different kinds of flowers to create a new color hybrid.
Creating hybrid roses is like bringing a fabric swatch to your local hardware store to match your walls to the furniture. Instead of mixing up a can of matched paint in an hour, it takes a couple of generations of cross-breeding roses to create a new color variety.
Many purple rose varieties are the result of the hybridization of European varieties with Chinese roses which have been cultivated for centuries. Here are a few frequently used rose varieties you see in purple bouquets:
- Ocean Mikado Spray Rose: classic purple hybrid tea roses
- Rose Andrea: miniature rose hybrid from the Little Darling family
- Ocean Song: not to be confused with the Lavender Lassie which is actually a pink rose, Ocean Song roses are popular wedding flowers
- Purple Haze: these light lilac to lavender roses sometimes come with tinted pink or violet edges
- Amnesia: true purple center with a lightened outer petal formation
- Purple Pavement: reddish-purple flowers know for attracting butterflies
- Suntory “Blue Rose”: while this is the closest to engineering a truly blue rose so far, these genetically produced roses are actually a lilac color
Taming Wild Roses
True wild roses like yellow, white and pink are the basic building blocks for creating other colors of roses. Just as tinting natural purple dyes from berries and dark grapes or indigo from blu-ish plants, the marriage of different plants gradually creates new color combinations. Hybrid roses introduce new attributes from other varieties. One way rose growers create these new colors is through grafting.
Grafting physically joins separate plants by their stems. Essentially, you make a cut in the parent plant’s stem and insert the growth of another rose variety, causing them to grow together. The process can create a plant that produces multiple colors of roses, and through gradual change, a new color of rose altogether.
Originally wild roses grew in vibrant colors to get the attention of bees. However, over time broader spectrums of rose colors created the uniquely breathtaking beauty standards for flowers we see today. We all know it takes time to look that good; it’s the difference between how we look on our way to the gym and how we look on our way to brunch.
The differences may be subtle, but the time we spend putting together the perfect outfit adds that special something to our seamless style. Constant cross-cultivation of different rose colors yields increasingly more beautiful results. By gradually introducing subtle changes to the overall appearance of roses, cultivators create unique color combinations that add alluring accents to the natural beauty of every flower arrangement.
Are Purple Roses Natural?
Beyond purple queenfish, violet-backed starlings, and the mineral purpurite; few naturally occurring things are truly purple. In fact, it took generations of tinting and artful blending to give the world what’s considered to be true purple. Growers created vibrant versions of familiar flowers that otherwise wouldn’t exist by supporting scientific shifts.
Purple Rose Meaning
There few more universal symbols of love and romance than a bouquet of red roses. Red is the most common color for romantic occasions like anniversaries and Valentine’s Day. However, purple roses have a deeper meaning, ideal for telling a crush just how you feel when the time is right.
Historically, the purple rose signifies unconscious beauty, majesty, and has been the chosen color of royalty for generations. One meaning that has carried over to the modern age is enchantment. Send purple roses to that special someone who entrances you, captivates you, and makes your heartbeat like Coachella.
Purple, lavender, or lilac roses have historically been the flower of mystery and magic. Their royal history has seen them rise to be the queen of go-to gifts for crushes. For a sweeping sentiment to symbolize love at first sight or forever friendship with people who make you feel special every day, purple roses are the perfect way to express your feelings.
Traditionally, the intensity of a flower’s color expresses the depth of meaning behind them. Since purple is not a color often replicated organically, causing colorful adaptations requires passion, dedication, and time. That’s why giving them to those you cherish carries both significant meaning and heartfelt intention to your gift. A dozen purple roses will make a grand statement about growing feelings of love or a devoted friendship. If interesting floral colors is your jam, read up on black flowers as well.
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