Valentine’s Day is associated as much with Flowers as it is about Love. On this holiday, one flower rules them all… ROSES! Used for centuries to express one’s love to another, they also represent beauty, romance, and even politics. But one color does not fit all intentions: red roses stand for love and passion, pink roses stand for poise and gratitude, the yellow rose stands for friendship, and the white rose represents purity.
There are over 3,000 varieties of roses on the market today and Potomac Floral Wholesale offers hundreds from old antique roses to current hybridized roses. We source these flowers from all over the world, working closely with growers to evaluate different varieties to test while in cultivation stages. If you haven’t seen it yet, we encourage you to visit the showroom to view our test table with tall cylinder vases filled with new and unique rose varieties under consideration.
Because roses are so popular, I’ve asked our experienced staff what their personal favorite roses are and why.
David Bassin, sales manager, is a floral industry veteran. He’s been a floral retail shop owner and wholesaler for 43 years with experience second-to-none. Because of this, David couldn’t narrow it down to just one rose, so he shared his top 3. Starting with Red France, he chose this rose for its bright red color and large petal count, making it perfect for any occasion. Next is Free Spirit, a sunset color that opens like a garden rose and changes color during this process. David’s last personal favorite is Mondial, a beautiful cream rose with green highlights on the outer petals.
From Left to Right: Red France, Free Spirit & Mondial Rose Varieties
Bianca Davila, a sales representative with 8 years of retail design and floral wholesale experience, says her favorite is Pink Mondial. This is especially fitting since we all know pink is Bianca’s favorite color and many others would agree. She loves that this rose is the essence of femininity. It’s a delicate soft pink rose with cream undertones.
Pink Mondial Rose Variety
Travis Gabriel, a sales manager who has been in floral retail design and wholesale for 9 years, has chosen a David Austin garden rose named “Princess Miyuki”. This rose is a pure white garden rose with a touch of green that opens beautifully. He said the Princess Miyuki has a wonderful perfume fragrance that you have to smell to believe.
Princess Miyuki Garden Rose
Mislu Beraki has been a member of our accounting team for the past 2 years. Her desk always has a beautiful display of fresh flowers, and roses in particular make her very happy. Mislu loves David Austin, and her personal favorite is the Juliet garden rose for its peachy pink color and large head cabbage rose style. This rose is also an industry favorite, Juliet is featured in elaborate wedding arrangements and available all year round.
David Austin Juliet Garden Rose
Bruce Kalen is a senior sales manager at Potomac since 2000, he has been in the floral industry since 1976. I didn’t forget to share with him that I was born in 1974. When he talks, I listen. I approached Bruce to ask him to share with me his favorite rose variety and why. This prompted a chaperoned field trip to the cooler. He said it was hard to pick a favorite and I could tell this is an area Bruce has vast knowledge. So here are a few of his top picks... Sexy Red has a large head that opens clean and has a true red color. Red Hearts is another red rose that he is particularly fond of which isn’t as dark as black magic and has a fat, double head. As far as novelty variety roses, his favorite is Toffee. Toffee roses have a caramel color and open wide.
From Left to Right: Sexy Red, Red Hearts & Toffee Rose Varieties
Andy Pagan is our purchasing manager and has been in the floral industry for 18 years. Andy was easy to corner into answering about his favorite rose as Bruce and I found him surveying our floral inventory during our visit to the cooler. Andy said we have 200+ varieties of roses available each week which we source from over 50 farms. We closely monitor roses being promoted by the growers and evaluate them on-site for their color, quality, head-size, petal count, fragrance, stem length, and vase life. Recently, Andy has been impressed by the numerous shades of lavender and purple roses we offer, such as Deep Purple, Gray Knight, Amnesia, Light Silver, Ocean Song, Early Gray, Avant Garde, Blueberry, Purple Haze, Silver Stone, Mammy Blue, Safi, and Curiosa.
From Left to Right: Safi, Light Siver & Gray Knight Rose Varieties
Jeff King is our sales team manager and public relations specialist, he has been in the floral industry for 34 years. Jeff had a reasonable explanation as to why he couldn’t narrow it down to just one favorite rose: "it changes, depending on when you walk in the cooler and see what catches your eye", he said. Generally, Jeff prefers a rose that opens slowly and lasts 7 to 10 days. That being said he is especially fond of Early Gray roses, which are known to open nicely and have a long vase life. This rose reminds him of being a young child when his father would wear a suit that had a similar hue of gray.
Amanda Buckland is a sales manager with 19 years of retail design and floral wholesale experience. She has a more sentimental explanation when sharing her favorite rose. Golda is a bright, bold, happy, yellow rose which evokes a memory of her father who grew them in their garden during her childhood. Amanda shared another favorite rose of hers is Pink Floyd, which opens nicely, has a great fragrance and holds well making it a great suggestion to anyone looking for an amazing hot pink rose.
From Left to Right: Early Gray, Golda & Pink Floyd Rose Varieties
Chris Shaffer is our supply department manager and he’s been in the floral supply industry for 24 years. With a giant grin he professed his favorite rose is the preserved rose! That’s a great choice! These roses are especially popular year round. A popular use for these unique roses is in a pave style display in hat boxes. When it comes to fresh cut roses his favorite is like so many others, Free spirit roses. Chris loves the way the colors gradually fade into each other.
David Powers who wears many hats at Potomac Floral Wholesale as our AIFD, CFD, marketing manager/sales manager, said his favorite rose is Playa Blanca, which means white beach in Spanish. Playa Blanca’s possess a large head and rows upon rows of petals. This rose exhibits innocence and purity and performs well making it his top choice.
Last but not least, me... Angela McCauley, sales manager and author of this blog for Potomac Floral Wholesale. I have been in floral industry retail management, design and wholesale for 25 years. I am impressed daily when I walk in our cooler and see all of the remarkable varieties before me. Like my colleagues, I have a hard time narrowing it down to a single favorite. I know it sounds a bit cliché but I love them all! However, one rose in particular catches my eye time and time again, and that is David Austin’s Darcey — simple gorgeous. This rose is a vibrant dark pink, garden cabbage style with abundant petals.
From Left to Right: Playa Blanca & David Austin Darcey Rose Varieties
With so many varieties of roses available on the market and the rose having such prominence among all floral options, there really isn’t a variety not to love. We’re excited to have shared our personal favorites and encourage you to consider them for inspiration in your floral designs. If you’re in our neck of the woods, don’t hesitate to stop by and find a new personal favorite rose of your own, maybe even a completely new variety from our test table.