What the Number of Roses Means: 1, 12, 25, 50, 100 and More

The number of roses meaning question usually comes down to a choice between two sizes, 25 or 50, 50 or 100, and whether the bigger one says something the smaller one doesn't. Sometimes it does. A single rose and a hundred of them send very different messages, and a few numbers carry meanings that some families take seriously.

Below is the list florists commonly quote, where it comes from, how many roses suit which occasion, what each count actually costs in our studio in Oak Ridges, at the north end of Richmond Hill, and how to get a big bouquet into the house without a scramble for vases. The prices are the real ones from our red roses collection.

Number of roses meaning: what each count says

Here is the list most florists repeat. Different sources disagree on a few of them, so read it as a guide, not a dictionary.

Where these meanings come from

Not from the Victorians, despite what a lot of websites say. The flower dictionaries of the 1800s gave meanings based on which flower you sent, its colour, its scent and the stories attached to it. They didn't give a meaning to how many.

The number of roses meaning list is much newer. It spread through florists and gift shops, and the big round numbers (99, 108, 999) are especially popular in East Asian gift culture, where a proposal with 99 or 108 roses is a known gesture. Nobody can point to one origin, which is why two florists will sometimes give you two meanings for the same count.

So we'd treat it like this: the number adds a layer if the person you're sending to knows the code, and costs you nothing if they don't. The colour, the card and the timing still do most of the work.

How many roses should you send?

It depends less on the meaning chart and more on the moment. This is how we'd match a count to an occasion, with a design from our shop to start from.

For a birthday, pick their favourite colour rather than automatically red. For an anniversary, our guide to which rose colours suit each anniversary helps with the colour side, and our anniversary flowers collection has every size from 12 roses up.

What does 12 roses mean?

The dozen is the default for a reason. It reads as "be mine" in a romantic setting and as a sincere thank you anywhere else, and it fits on a dining table without taking over the room. Our Rose Ladder is 12 roses in a flat wrap for $75, in red, pink or white. Claret Tulip pairs 12 red roses with 10 white tulips for $95, and Ribbon Cascade goes up to 20 red roses for $105.

A dozen is also the size most people already own a vase for, which matters more than it sounds. Twelve roses in a standard kitchen vase look full. The same vase with 25 in it looks crammed.

What do 25 roses mean?

Twenty-five is the congratulations number, and it's also the size where a bouquet starts to look generous rather than polite. Most of our 25-rose bouquets sit between $110 and $150. Snowfall Red is 25 red roses in white wrap for $115, Gilded Wings adds gold butterflies for $110, and Pearl Signature is 25 pink roses with a pearl initial for $115.

It's also the biggest size we'd happily send to an office. Twenty-five roses can be carried home on the subway or a GO train without anyone needing to help, which is not true of what comes next.

What do 50 roses mean?

Fifty is often described as love with no conditions attached. It suits anniversaries and the bigger apologies. Our 50-rose bouquets run from $185 to $235. Scarlet Halo rings 50 red roses with baby's breath and pink lilies for $215. Meringue is 50 red roses in double white wrap with an initial for $230. If red feels too loud, Ivory Script is 50 white roses with an initial for $195.

At 50 roses the bouquet becomes something you hold with both arms. Plan for a big vase, or two medium ones. Our love and romance collection has more at this size, in pink and white as well as red.

What do 100 roses mean?

A hundred roses says "all of it". It's a proposal, a 25th anniversary, a "we finally did it" bouquet. Ours cost $410 to $455: Black Tie is 100 red roses in black wrap for $410, and Cashmere Rose is 100 white roses with an initial, also $410. Past that, Full Moon carries 150 white roses for $550.

If the 100 roses are part of a proposal you're planning around a dinner, a view or a set-up at home, our proposal flowers page is the place to start. If you can't decide between sizes, Heart and Wing comes in 25, 50, 75 or 100 red roses ($110, $185, $275 and $410), so you can pick the count and keep the same design.

Rose bouquet prices by number of roses

Every price below is a real design in our shop today, before delivery and HST.

Heart and Wing comes in four sizes, so it shows the price of each count side by side. The price per rose doesn't fall in a straight line, because the bigger sizes take more wrap, more pins and a lot more time to tie:

Orders over $400 get free delivery within 35 km of our studio, so a 100-rose bouquet to any address within 35 km arrives with no delivery fee.

What about 75 roses, or a number that isn't on the list?

Seventy-five doesn't have a meaning on most of the lists you'll find. It's simply the step between 50 and 100, and it's the size people pick when 50 feels a little small for the moment and 100 feels like showing off. That's a perfectly good reason.

The other common case is a count that matches something: 30 roses for 30 years, 18 for an 18th birthday, 40 for a 40th. Plenty of people do this, and it often means more than anything on the chart, because the person reading the card knows exactly why that number. Our set sizes are 12, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 150 roses. If the count you have in mind isn't one of them, call us at (437) 291-5605 before you order and ask what's possible for your date. Don't assume we can or can't; it depends on the design and what came in that week.

Odd, even and unlucky numbers: customs worth knowing in the GTA

Toronto and York Region are home to families from all over the world, and a few number customs are taken seriously enough that we'd always want you to know about them.

Even numbers in Russian, Ukrainian and other Eastern European families. In these traditions, an even number of flowers is for funerals and graves. Flowers for the living come in odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and so on. A dozen red roses, perfectly normal here, can land badly with a grandmother who grew up in Kyiv or Moscow. If you know the family keeps it, don't gamble.

The number four in Chinese, Korean and Japanese households. The word for four sounds like the word for death in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Japanese, so many families avoid four of anything as a gift. None of our designs is built on four stems, but it's worth knowing if you're adding your own extras.

Thirteen in Western superstition. Some people read 13 as unlucky, others as the secret admirer number. Unless you know which camp they're in, skip it.

Which of our rose counts are odd and which are even?

Of the set sizes we make, 25 and 75 are odd. Twelve, 20, 50, 100 and 150 are even. So for a family that keeps the odd-number rule, a 25-rose bouquet is the easy answer, and Heart and Wing at 75 roses is the big one.

One catch. People who keep this custom tend to count every flower, not only the roses. A design with lilies, tulips or a rim of baby's breath makes the total hard to pin down, so a plain rose bouquet is the safer choice. Snowfall Red has a topper, so for a strict count we'd point you to Gilded Wings or Rosewater, both 25 roses.

If a count matters to the family you're sending to, put it in the order notes or call us at (437) 291-5605 before you order. We'll tell you honestly what we can do with that design.

Does the colour change what the number says?

Yes, and usually more than the number does. Fifty red roses is romantic. Fifty yellow roses is a very enthusiastic friendship. White roses lean toward new beginnings and respect, pink toward thanks and admiration. Our rose colour meanings guide covers every shade.

What to write on the card for each count

The number only says something if the person knows the code, so the card is where you can let them in on it. A short line that names the count does more than a long one that doesn't. A few we'd write ourselves:

• 1 rose: "One, because there's only one of you."
• 12 roses: "A dozen, the old-fashioned way. Be mine for another year?"
• 25 roses: "Twenty-five means congratulations. You earned every one."
• 50 roses: "Fifty roses. No conditions, no fine print."
• 75 roses: "Fifty felt too small and a hundred felt like showing off."
• 100 roses: "A hundred, and it still doesn't cover it."
• A count that matches the years: "Thirty roses, one for every year you've put up with me."

You type the message at checkout and we tuck it in with the flowers. Prices never go in the box. Keep it to a few lines. The card is small, and two good lines beat a paragraph.

How to give 50 or 100 roses so they land well

A big bouquet is a lot of flowers to arrive at a door. A little planning on your end saves the person receiving it from standing in the kitchen wondering where on earth to put them.

Home or work?

For 50 roses or more, we'd send to home. A 100-rose bouquet at an office is a great moment at reception and an awkward one at 5:30 pm, when someone has to carry it to the car or onto the subway. If it has to be work, 25 roses is the size that travels.

Pick the window around their day. Our checkout offers anytime (9:30 am to 6:30 pm), morning (9:30 to 1) or afternoon (1 to 6:30). Order by 1 pm for same-day delivery to most postal codes, or book the date up to 60 days ahead so a milestone isn't left to the morning of. Our delivery page explains how the windows and fees work.

Getting 100 roses into water

Most homes don't have a vase that takes 100 roses. That's normal. When a big bouquet arrives, stand it in a clean bucket of cool water for the first night, then split it across two or three vases in the morning. Recut the stems on an angle and change the water every two days. Penn State Extension's advice is to keep cut flowers in a cool spot, out of direct sun and away from heat sources like vents and fireplaces. The Royal Horticultural Society also says to keep arrangements away from ripe fruit. Ripening fruit gives off ethylene, a plant hormone that speeds ageing and shortens vase life in roses.

This chart shows how long roses and lilies usually last in a vase with that kind of care. Lilies come into it because several of our 50-rose designs carry them:

Red roses often arrive a little tight and open over two or three days in a warm room, so the bouquet looks fuller by the weekend. Our guide to making fresh flowers last longer has the rest.

Mistakes we see with the number of roses

Going big too early. One hundred roses on a third date reads as pressure, not romance. Save the big numbers for moments that already feel big.

Ignoring the space. A 100-rose bouquet into a studio condo with no vase ends up in the bathtub. If space is tight, 25 or 50 in a design you love beats 100 in a bucket.

Sending 12 to a family that counts. If you know there's an Eastern European grandmother at the address, go odd.

Leaving the card blank. The count can't explain itself. One line naming it does.

Ordering the milestone on the day. Same-day works, but for a proposal or a 25th, book the date ahead and pick the window, so the timing is settled before the day arrives.

We deliver seven days a week across York Region and Toronto, including Richmond Hill, Markham and Toronto. If you have a budget in mind and aren't sure which count it buys, text it to (437) 291-5605 and we'll suggest a design.

Frequently asked questions

What does 12 roses mean?

Twelve roses, the classic dozen, means "be mine" when it's romantic and a sincere thank you when it isn't. It's the most common count for a first Valentine's Day or an early anniversary. Our 12-rose bouquets start at $75 for Rose Ladder, in red, pink or white.

What does a single rose mean?

A single rose usually means love at first sight, or simply "you're the one". It works for an early date or a quiet gesture. One stem can say plenty, but it needs a good card to go with it, since there's no size to do the talking.

Is it bad luck to give an even number of roses?

In Russian, Ukrainian and some other Eastern European families, yes: even numbers of flowers are for funerals, and gifts for the living come in odd numbers. In most Canadian homes nobody minds, and the dozen is the standard. If you're unsure about the family, choose an odd number like 25 or ask us first.

How many roses should I send for an anniversary?

For most anniversaries, 25 to 50 roses feels generous without going over the top. For a milestone like a 10th, 25th or 50th, 100 roses makes the point. Colour matters as much as count: red for romance, or the couple's wedding colours for something more personal.

How much is a bouquet of 100 roses?

At Laris Florist, 100-rose bouquets cost $410 to $455 before HST, depending on the design and wrap. Black Tie and Cashmere Rose are $410 each. Because they're over $400, delivery is free to addresses within 35 km of our Oak Ridges studio.

What do 99 or 108 roses mean?

Ninety-nine roses is usually read as love for the rest of your life, and 108 as a marriage proposal. Both counts are popular in East Asian gift culture. We don't have set designs at 99 or 108, so call us at (437) 291-5605 and ask what's possible for your date.