By Paula Green

“Everything is Coming up Roses” is a song from the Broadway musical Gypsy.  Roses  are a hit both musically and globally since they are the most popular flower in the world.
It is the birth flower for the month of June, and they come in a variety of hues, each with a different symbolic meaning—red – love; pink – grace; dark pink – gratitude; light pink – admiration and sympathy; white – innocence and humility; yellow – dying love; orange – passion; burgundy – beauty and blue – mystery.

The rose is the state flower of four U.S. states: Iowa, North Dakota, Georgia and New York.  Portland, Oregon, counts “City of Roses” among its nicknames and holds an annual Rose Festival.

There are some popular quotes pertaining to this beautiful flower ~ “Looking at the world through rose colored glasses,” “A rose is a rose is a rose,” “A bed of roses,” “Roses are red and violets are blue...”

Some famous people bear a “rose” as their name, such as the Kennedy family matriarch Rose Kennedy, actresses Rose McGowan, Rose Byrne, Rosie O’Donnell and Rosemary Clooney.  There is also former baseball player and manager Pete Rose, former Pittsburgh Pirates’ announcer Rosie Roswell, former football player/actor Rosey Grier, and civil rights activist Rosa Parks. There is also musician Axl Rose, lead singer for the band Guns N’ Roses.

A bouquet of songs have featured this famous flower ~ “Rose Garden,” “Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Rose, Rose, I Love You,” “Paper Roses,” “Sweet Gypsy Rose,” “Bed of Roses,” “Love is a Rose,” “Kiss From A Rose,” “Every Rose Has Its Thorns,” “Rosalita,” and “The Rose” sung by Bette Midler.  Midler also starred in the film by the same name.

On to the movie front, there was War of the Roses, Audrey Rose, Days of Wine and Roses, Rambling Rose, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

There are festivities that feature roses, such as The Tournament of Roses, which kicks off the Rose Bowl college football game.  On Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., you’ll find the famous White House “Rose Garden.”

If you are thirsty, perhaps you would like some Red Rose Tea, or rosé wine?  Whatever your taste, it will soon begin to flourish as you note the beauty that roses add to our lives.  It is described this way by Nathaniel Parker Willis – “In the month of June, the month of leaves and roses, when pleasant sights salute the eyes and pleasant scent the noses.”

Since we have “woke up and smelled the roses,” we must now answer a few budding questions.  Let’s see how well you’ve blossomed, because it is time to get a little trivial...

1. What Shakespeare character said, “What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?”

2. Name the actress that portrayed Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show.

3. What was Pete Roses’ nickname?

4. This name was given by American GI’s to women who broadcast propaganda for the Japanese during World War II.

5. This gentleman is a television interviewer and journalist.

6. This berry-like fruit is used as a source of vitamin C.

7. The movie The Rose chronicles the life of this rock and roll diva.

8. War of the Roses starred Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and was directed by?

9. What movie revolved around a man’s dying word “rosebud?”

10. Gloria Stuart and this actress portrayed the character Rose in the movie Titanic.

11. Name this famous play by Tennessee Williams.

12. This robot housekeeper kept things clean in The Jetsons.

13. This strand of beads is used for praying.

14. Who sang “Everything is Coming up Roses?

15. Which President’s wife established the “Rose Garden” at the White House?

Sources:

http://www.birth-flower.com/Library/JUNE/index.htm
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800113053/info

Answers:

1. Juliet  2. Rose Marie  3. Charlie Hustle  4. Tokyo Rose  5. Charlie Rose  6. Rose hips  7. Janis Joplin  8. Danny DeVito  9. Citizen Kane  10. Kate Winslet  11. The Rose Tattoo 12. Rosie  13. A rosary  14. Ethel Merman  15. Woodrow Wilson (Ellen Louise Wilson – 1913)

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