Rose

  The rose is one of the oldest flowers in the world, yet it retains its popularity throughout the ages.  It has always been regarded as the flower of love.  Mythology relates that it was created by Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers, out of the corpse of a nymph which she discovered one day in a clearing in the woods.  Aphrodite, the goddess of love, gave the flower beauty, while Dionysus, the god of wine, gave Chloris  nectar to give the flower a sweet scent.  The three graces contributed charm, brightness and joy.  Then Zephyr, the West Wind, blew the clouds away so that Apollo, the sun god, could provide sunlight for the flower to bloom, and hence the rose was born.