*Over 64% of men don’t make plans ahead of time for a romantic Valentine’s Day.
*Over 110 million roses (mostly red) will be sold and delivered within the three-day time period surrounding Valentine’s Day.
*About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine’s gifts to their pets.
*The world’s oldest living rose is thought to be 1,000 years old! Today it continues to flourish on the wall of the Hildeshiem Cathedral in Germany.
*According to Greek Mythology, it was Aphrodite who gave the rose its name.
*Parents receive 1 out of every 5 Valentines.
*More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s celebrations.
*This year, 50% of women will give chocolate to their sweetheart for Valentine’s.
*Shakespeare refers to roses more than 50 times throughout his writings.
*Roses are truly ageless. Recently archaeologists discovered the fossilized remains of wild roses over 40 million years old.
*Romans believed white roses grew where the tears of Venus fell as she mourned the loss of her beloved Adonis. And when Venus walked through the garden and pricked her foot on a thorn, it was the droplets of her blood which turned the roses red.
*In the 17th Century, French explorer Samuel deChamplain brought the first cultivated roses to North America.