( CNN ) -- Think you have to pay a lot for a Valentine 's gift this year ? Spare a thought for romantics in Bangkok , Thailand , where florists charge $ 45 for just one rose . Bangkok , Hong Kong and Tokyo are some of the more expensive places in which to buy red roses for Valentine 's Day , according to an informal price check by CNN on Thursday . A dozen premium Dutch roses cost a whopping $ 487 in the Thai capital Thursday . In Hong Kong , a dozen roses cost $ 205 , and in Tokyo , they cost $ 120 . The price was much cheaper in China -- just $ 15 for a 12-stem bouquet of homegrown roses -- but buying a dozen is not the norm . In fact , there is a romantic meaning behind a whole range of numbers , giving Valentines a range of ways to profess their love . One rose means `` You 're the only one , '' and three says `` I love you . '' Sending 108 roses is equivalent to a marriage proposal , and 365 means `` I think of you every day . '' And for $ 1,516 , Beijing shops were offering a total of 999 roses , which means `` We 'll be together forever . '' Prices were cheaper elsewhere across Asia . In Jakarta , Indonesia , and Seoul , South Korea , a dozen roses were going for $ 60 at florist shops Thursday . A similar bouquet in Delhi , India , cost only $ 9 . By far the cheapest prices of the informal survey were in Nairobi , Kenya , where 22 roses -- nearly two dozen -- cost about $ 2.50 . That 's because Kenya is a major rose producer and horticultural exporter . In 2008 , the value of Kenyan flower exports was nearly $ 500 million , according to the Kenya Flower Council . The country shipped more than 93,000 tons of flowers that year , and annual growth has averaged more than 10 % for the past six years . Almost all of Kenya 's flower exports -- 97 % -- are to Europe , the council says . But if it was Kenyan roses they were selling Thursday at London 's Liberty department store , the cheap prices were n't filtering down to consumers . Liberty was sold out of red roses Thursday and other colors were costing between $ 58 and $ 96 per dozen . The United States imports more than 80 % of its Valentine 's Day roses , primarily from Colombia and Ecuador , according to the Society of American Florists . The vast majority of the rest come from California . The reason so many come from abroad has to do with weather and timing , the society said . Growers need 50 to 70 days to produce enough roses for Valentine 's Day after the demand for red roses at Christmas is filled . Winter 's shorter daylight hours and higher energy costs hamper efforts to grow large rose crops . Plus , in order to grow a single long-stemmed rose -- a Valentine 's Day favorite -- growers have to nip off several rosebuds along the stem , reducing the total number of roses they can grow , the society said . The average Valentine 's Day price for a dozen florist-arranged , long-stemmed roses in the United States is just above $ 73 , according to the Society of American Florists . At other times of the year , it 's just more than $ 59 .
Bangkok , Thailand , has some of the most expensive Valentine 's roses . The cheapest were found in India and China . Europe and the United States import many of their roses .