nothing says I love you like some dead vegetation

Don't forget your dead flowers this Valentine's Day. Credit: Cafepress.com

Roses may be a totally generic and thoughtless Valentine's Day gift, but they work -- that's the beauty of the Valentine's floral arrangement. Although they're completely run-of-the-mill and are often purchased in a parking lot on the way home from work, they still make the recipient feel all warm and special inside. So, how many of these beautiful, helpless flowers get macheted to make Valentines feel special every year?

According to TheRomantic.com, 110 million Valentine's roses are sold and delivered in a three-day period surrounding February 14th, the vast majority of which are red. Of those 110 million, 73% are purchased by men and only 27% are purchased by women (a fact that would embolden male empowerment Valentine's Day haters).

In the US, 60% of the roses sold are produced in California; however, most Valentine's roses are imported from South America. Another interesting floral factoid is that 15% of women report sending themselves roses for Valentine's Day.

It's not clear whether or not that number includes procrastinators who ordered their roses too late and thus had their roses delivered on the 15th. However, considering that 64% of men in the U.S. do no Valentine's Day planning in advance, a statistically significant number of roses probably do arrive late.