There are dozens of pages on the web about the meaning of roses.
Most are sentimental rubbish with little or any basis in fact. Roses are beautiful flowers and the gift of roses can mean whatever the sender wants.
At least, until recently…
A Utah firm, Speaking Roses, recently received a patent to imprint images and text on roses. The service is a little expensive but the idea is very clever.
“Now, ‘Say it with flowers’ is not just a phrase, it’s a reality. The rose that broke the paradigm of roses. Sure, a red rose means love and a yellow one means friendship, but now a rose can mean so much more. You can spell it out ON the rose.”
Source: Speaking Roses - It’s the Message that Makes the Difference
I happen to like roses without ink on the petals, but combining greeting card sentiments and fresh or silk flowers works nicely for personal messages. For birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and funerals the printed sentiments can add a nice touch to a single rose, bouquet, or floral spray.
Wow or Tacky
While personal messages on roses can be eye-catching, standard corporate or business gift messages are less so. Some of the business and corporate messages offered by Speaking Roses are:
- Employee of the Month
- Thanks for perfect attendance
- We appreciate your business
- 3rd Place
Many people dry roses as a memento of special occasion, but would anyone be tempted to preserve any roses displaying one of these impersonal messages?
There’s a bit of “wow factor” involved in imprinted roses. Much as I like Snoopy and Elvis, I think it’s tacky to put their images on roses.
It’s even tackier to add your corporate logo. The Internet Archive for Speaking Roses shows a number of corporate logos imprinted on roses. Whether these companies ever used the service cannot be determined from the archive.
Marketing may be all about branding, but sometimes the branding sends the wrong message. Any business that slaps it’s logo on a rose doesn’t appreciate the rose or the recipient.
Speaking Roses came up with a clever product, but I think it’s best in small, personal doses.
