THE QUEEN OF FLOWERS

“Let the beauty and fragrance of a rose touch your soul”.

Unknown author

Rose is one of the most popular and adored flowers in the world. The rose flower is a symbol of beauty as the elegance of its delicate petals harmonizes with sharp thorns. Moreover, this flower represents love and romantic appeal. Rose is a member of the Rosaceae family. It’s usually a perennial flowering shrub the stem of which is covered with thorns. It has green leaves and large, showy, fragrant flowers of different colours.

Rose History and Facts

• There are many legends about the appearance of this flower but all of them are somehow connected with love. According to one legend, rose was created due to the efforts of the goddess Flora who was hopelessly in love with Cupid. The goddess decided to create a flower that would represent both sadness and joy. So the rose flower came to life. When the goddess saw the flower she wanted to pronounce the name of her beloved but instead of "Eros" managed to utter only "ros". Since then, the rose flower that Flora created as a symbol of unrequited feelings has become an iconic flower for all people in love. Another legend says that the flower was born from the foam that covered the body of the Greek goddess of beauty after bathing. The gods sprinkled the rose flower with nectar in order to give it a seductive aroma and make it even more beautiful. Originally, the rose was white, but when Aphrodite became aware of Adonis’s wound, she ran into the wood where her lover was dying. The thorns wounded the legs of the goddess, and the drops of her blood coloured the white petals red.
• People began to cultivate this wonderful flower in Ancient Rome. Roman writers have glorified the beauty of the rose flower since the 5^th century. During the reign of the Carolings people started to grow roses both as medicinal and ornamental flowers.
• The first information about roses can be found in ancient Indian sources though Persia is considered to be the homeland of this flower. Persians regarded a white rose the gift of Allah to people.
• There is a version that the flower got its name after the island where it first started to grow – Rhodes.
• The archaeological data prove that roses have been cultivated for more than 5 thousand years.
• The red rose has always been a symbol of love. In the Middle Ages a knight was supposed to give a red rose to his lady.
• There are about 100 species of roses in the world.
• Roses can be of different colours except black. What people call “black rose” is actually a very dark red rose.

Methods of Use

Roses can be utilized as a food ingredient and in such forms as cosmetics, powder, capsules, ointments, infusions, essential oils, tinctures, extracts.

Rose Petals for Skin

Rose oil is one of the most valuable oils in cosmetics and perfumes. The rose scent makes part of many perfumes. In order to obtain only 1 gram of essential oil it is necessary to process about 30 kilograms of petals. In Bulgaria there is even a whole valley of roses that are grown for this purpose. Rose oil produced in Bulgaria is considered to be the best in the world. Cosmetics with essential rose oil  is famous all over the world,  it is often used for skin care.

Rose Petals Bath Recipe

What you need:

• 1 glass of rose petals
• 1 glass of boiling water

Steep the petals in the boiling water. Wait for some time in order to preserve essential oils. You don’t need to strain the mixture. Add the infusion to your bath. Try to take such healthy baths as often as it’s possible.

Roses in Culinary

Now we’d like to present an easy and delicious recipe for sweet rose jam.

Rose Petals Jam Recipe

What you need:

• 200 g of rose petals
• 1 kg of sugar
• 1 glass of water

Take the rose petals and add the sugar. Let the mixture stand and crystallize for 2 days. Then cook some syrup from the water, sugar and a bit of lemon juice. Add the crystallized petals to the syrup and cook until the jam is ready.  Pamper yourself with this delicacy every time you need it.