Roses symbolize love and affection. They are known for their exotic beauty which have inspired many people to write poems, and songs on them.

The roses we know today primarily originated in Asia. They were initially grown as medicinal plants. In some Asian countries medication based on the rose plant can still be found today. Around the 16th century they began to be exported from China by European. Europe and America did have some roses, but they were primarily wild. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love known as Aphrodite and Venus.

Different colors of roses represent different feelings and emotions. Red roses are considered a classic. A vibrant and dramatic color, it stands for romance and passion. White ones represent purity and true love. Yellow ones have traditionally symbolized friendship. Orange roses could be considered to have a similar meaning as yellow roses. They can also represent excitement or something new. The rose has been a favorite flower of poets since poetry began. Maybe it's because like a poem, a rose can say so much without saying much at all.

"Treaties are like roses and young girls - they last while they last." Charles de Gaulle

"A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom." Chinese Proverb

"The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose." George William Curtis

"Those who don't pick roses in summer won't pick them in winter either." German Proverb

"There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted." Henri Matisse

"God gave us our memories so that we can have roses in December." James Matthew Barrie

"The red rose whispers of passion, and the white rose breathes of love; O, the red rose is a falcon, and the white rose is a dove." John Boyle O'Reilly

"A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world." Leo Buscaglia.

"But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold." Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The world is a rose, smell it, and pass it to your friends." Persian Proverb

"Time brings Roses." Portuguese Proverb

"The first man to compare the cheeks of a woman to a rose was obviously a poet, the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot." Salvador Dali

"If I had a rose for every time I thought of you, I'd be picking roses for a lifetime." Swedish Proverb

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." The Bible

"Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone, and more fragile than a rose." Turkish Proverb

"Thorns and roses grow on the same tree." Turkish Proverb

"How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said." Victor Hugo