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Rose Symbolism and Color Meaning

Rose Color Meaning: Using Roses for a Loved One's Memorial

Roses are a classic flower used to show love for another person. Coming in a rainbow hue of colors, people have been using roses to tell each other how they feel for thousands of years. While there are many interpretations of rose color meaning, some classic examples are yellow for friendship and red or pink for romantic love. These colors of roses, along with white or ivory roses, are also commonly used to honor the passing of a loved one. As writer and director Jaime Anderson says, “Grief, I’ve learned, is just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot.” Roses are used in bouquets and arrangements and planted as memorials in remembrance. Let’s discuss how to use different colors of roses to honor and remember your loved one.

Yellow Roses

Rose Symbolism: How to Use Roses as a Memorial

There are dozens of ways to incorporate roses into memorials for your loved one. Many choose roses of varying shades as the accent flowers for funerals, memorial services, or wakes. Even more, people bring bouquets of roses as a gesture of condolence when a family member, friend, or co-worker is bereaved.

Another common way people use roses in memorials is to plant a rose bush in memory of the deceased. Seeing something beautiful grow in honor of an even more beautiful person may be comforting in times of profound grief. Instead of planting a memory tree with some of their loved one’s ashes, a rose bush makes a fitting living urn.

What is a Living Urn?

Living Urns are planted with some of your loved one’s cremation ashes to memorialize their life. When you plant a young tree or a rose bush (or any plant) with a portion of your loved one’s ashes, part of them is regrown and has a new life. Planting a living urn is a testament to how life goes on after loss. This specially chosen living urn also honors your loved one and can comfort you as you remember and grieve their loss.

Why Choose a Living Urn for Your Loved One's Memorial?

Planting a memorial isn’t as simple as adding ashes to the soil before you plant. Cremation ashes are difficult for a plant to use and can cause it to grow poorly if not properly mitigated. The Living Urn system makes it that simple with its patented bio urn planting system. With their RootProtect® Proprietary Soil Additive, your living memorial has a much higher chance of success.

Can you Plant Roses as a Living Urn?

Absolutely. Roses make wonderful living urns, providing fragrant comfort from their blooms year after year. With their resilient and adaptive nature, roses can thrive in a variety of climates. Additionally, they are excellent choices for anyone with a small yard or limited access to the outside, and they are known to grow well in containers.

Symbolism and Rose Color Meaning

Roses are ancient flowers that have long been prized by humanity for their fragrance, medicinal properties, and flavor. Infusions and extracts of rose petals are a soothing staple in skin care products and perfumes. Pure essential oil is painstakingly extracted from tons of rose petals and is highly valuable.

Cultures across time used roses in religious ceremonies and gave them spiritual symbolism. From China to Greece to North America, roses are associated with gods, goddesses, rituals, and ceremonies and symbolize love, devotion, passion, innocence, and beauty. What do rose colors mean for grief and loss? Let’s take a look at the different rose colors and their meaning.

What do White Roses Mean?

White roses are a common choice for funerals. They symbolize peace, purity, and innocence. They can also symbolize honor, which is appropriate for a memorial service.

What do Red Roses Mean?

While commonly associated with romantic love and passion, red roses symbolize deep love; grief is simply one side of that coin. Another common meaning for red roses is the strength, endurance, and resolve that grow out of a passionate love for life.

What do Pink Roses Mean?

Pink roses are often associated with feminine qualities like elegance, affection, and grace. They also symbolize gratitude.

What do Yellow Roses Mean?

While sunny yellow might not seem like a choice for a funeral, yellow roses mean friendship. Their warmth can offer comfort to a friend during loss. Yellow roses also honor the devastating loss of a dear friend.

What do Ivory Roses Mean?

Ivory roses symbolize faith, loyalty, and love stemming from deep devotion. Unlike red or pink roses, ivory roses have no romantic meaning. Instead, they represent thoughtfulness, admiration, and care.

How to Plant a Memorial Rose with the Living Urn

Planting a Living Urn is a loving and dignified way to memorialize your loved one while offering comfort and solace to those left behind. We’ve made planting a rose Living Urn as easy as possible. Simply order your Living Urn Bio Urn and follow the step-by-step instructions when planting a rose bush of your choice. We make our Living Urns by hand here in the USA, without using any glue or harmful chemicals and are proud to be America’s leading Memorial Tree Planting System.

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