Roses are red (though they look good in other colors, too)

If you're going red, it better be this red

What lady has not dreamed of getting a bouquet of roses from her romantic partner?

A worker at the rode farm sorts out
the red flowers before packaging

Never mind that Valentine’s Day isn’t for months away, Juliet doesn’t need a special occasion to expect flowers from Romeo (though nowadays it’s not uncommon to find it the other way around).

Though roses can be seen in flower shops around the country all year round, it is unbeknownst to many that these symbols of love is being planted and grown locally--in the relatively cooler city of Tagaytay.

“Roses have all the beauty and meaning to express a range of human emotion, idea or thought,” said Island Rose chief executive officer Dustin Andaya. Island Rose is the country’s largest grower and wholesaler of roses, specializing in growing world European roses.

“More commonly in our culture, we know that red roses signify love and passion,” Andaya said. “But there’s also yellow roses which celebrate friendship and joy.”

Grown in the country’s most advanced greenhouse facilities, the roses are grown using the latest technology in a 5-and-a-half hectare land in the city south of Manila.

Yello roses go well with red. Island Roses' packaging is the best in its class.

Island Rose takes full advantage of the flower’s inherent attributes and translates it to a tangible and emotive representation of the human relationships.

Wedding is it? Go for white.

According to Arnold Andaya, the company’s president, half of the 2.5 million stems they produce in a year are still the traditional red roses (in various shades) while a quarter are pink ones. The rest are orange, yellow, white, and lavender colored-roses.

“We’ve had customers who buy roses to court a lady,” the president said. “Later on, they order roses again this time for that lady who has become his wife.”

Despite the sensitive and complicated manner in which to grow the roses--with a climate conducive to pests and the natural tropical heat--Island Rose has managed to keep the gesture of sending flowers to friends and loved ones alive.

An Island Rose farm worker begins packaging the roses

For lovers of red roses, Island Rose has three variants: the thornless and thick-stemmed Grand Gala rose with dark red buds (which remains to be the best-selling variant of the rose farm); the long straight-stemmed Red Giant rose abundant with foliage; and the Red France rose.

For those who want more unconventional shades, there's the Osiana variant, which features peach-colored buds; while the Noseblesse rose has salmon pink petals. The Vivaldi variety grows with very light pink buds.

Mariah Carey would love these pink roses

Men (or women, for that matter) can now express their unconditional love and undying affection by looging on to www.islandrose.net anytime of the day to have roses delivered anywhere in the country.