Flowers are the most romantic gift. They are are a great way to express and convey love, feelings, and emotions with someone special. Beautiful flowers put a beautiful smile on someone's face - a contagious smile that makes someone's day and melts the heart away.
As flowers come in all shapes, sizes, and colors - they come in various price points too, especially when they come in a bouquet.
One of the most preferred gifts for special occasions such as Valentine's Day are the flowers. Some people might find it impractical to shell out a small fortune on bouquets, but some would still find it romantic to receive flowers that are rare and expensive.
This Valentine's, you might want to impress your special someone with some of the rarest and most expensive flowers on Earth.
Saffron Crocus ($1200 – $1500 per pound)
They say that Saffron originated in Iran. This popular spice used for coloring and high seasoning in many cuisines has long been the world's most costly spice by weight. The flower has a purple color with a yellow stamen. But preparing spice from this flower is very difficult as about 80,000 flowers are used to extract just 500 grams of spice, which makes it so expensive.
Gold of Kinabalu Orchid ($6000 per piece)
This flower which is a large-sized clear-leafed species of orchid that blooms in April and May is extremely expensive because of its beauty and rarity. It blooms with a tall inflorescence with up to six, large flowers, holding its petals almost horizontally, giving the flower a very distinctive appearance. It has lovely green petals embellished with red dots. It only grows in Malaysia’s Kinabalu National Park and it is difficult to cultivate as the flower takes many years to appear.
Shenzhen Nongke Orchid ($200,000 per flower)
This man-made orchid was cultivated by Chinese Agricultural scientists from Shenzhen Nongke University. It took them 8 years to develop its flower. It was first sold at an auction in 2005 to an anonymous bidder for $202,000. This flower only blooms once every 4-5 years.
Juliet Rose ($5 million)
Juliet Rose is the most expensive rose ever developed. It was created by David Charles Henshaw Austin a British rose breeder and writer who lived in Shropshire, England. David took 15 years to grow this lovely apricot-hued hybrid. He showcased it to the world at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2006. The rose is worth £3 million or around $5 million. Juliet Rose is said to have a very light, sensual fragrance. The rose, when opened, reveal a neat array of petals nestling within the folds in the center of the bloom - a sensational sight to behold.
Kadupul Flower (Priceless)
Kadupul a species of cactus, is a legendary flower from Sri Lanka. It can bloom up to 100 flowers per shrub and it usually blooms during a full moon from November to March. Its flower emanates a soothing, lovely scent at night and wilts before dawn. This flower is priceless because it is rare and cannot be harvested. Kadupul lives only for a few hours after it is picked, hence it is impossible to sell this exotic and unique flower.
How about you? What does a flower signify in your life? Given the chance, which of these expensive and rare flowers would you love to own and why?