50+ Lifestyles

June – Roses and Pearls

By Eloise Graham
Editor-in-Chief

The flower for June is the rose. The rose and the shrub are of the Rosa genus. Their colors range from deep red to the palest of pink, orange hues to yellows to white. A lavender rose has even been cultivated.

Early civilizations of temperate zones were believed to be growing roses as far back as 5,000 years ago. Roses were believed to have been grown in ancient Babylon. Paintings discovered in Egyptian pyramids from the 14th century B.C. had paintings with roses depicted in the artwork.

The legend of the thorn – Cupid, the son of Venus, shot arrows accidentally into a rose garden when he was stung by a bee. The resulting ‘sting’ from the arrows is what gave the flower its thorns.

The birthstones for June, there are three: the pearl, the moonstone and Alexandrite. A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk, usually an oyster. Moonstones are a little softer in composition than the pearl, but they have a sheen to them similar to that of the pearl. They were named “moonstone” because of the visual effect caused by light diffraction giving it the appearance of moonbeams shining through. Alexandrite is a gemstone that has the ability to change color depending on whether it is viewed in natural sunlight or artificial light. It ranges from deep emerald green, blue and dark purple tones to red-violet, magenta and red tones.

Weird and wacky observances:

Monthly –

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month

Turkey Lovers Month

Black Music Appreciation Month

Fight the Filthy Fly Month

Weekly –

International Clothesline Week

National Flag Football Week

National Gardening Week

Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

Daily –    

Say Something Nice Day

National Pen Pal Day

World Doll Day

National Game Day