Roses:: Care of Cut Roses

Care Of Cut Roses

Care of cut roses from your garden is not hard to learn. One of the pleasures of having your own rose garden is cutting them to also enjoy indoors. When planned properly, these can last up to one week beautifying your home.

Water your roses the day before you plan to cut for a bouquet.

Cut your roses early in the morning or late at night. The blooms have the most plant sugar in the blooms and stems. Cut before applying pesticide sprays to avoid the smell of these products.

Be prepared. Find a plastic bucket. Scrub your bucket with a cleaner that contains bleach such as Comet and hot water. When you are ready to cut your roses rinse your bucket and add hot water. Have another container to hold the roses also with hot water.

Cut your roses with cleaned flower cutters. Cut your rose stem one half inch above the second or third leaf down from the bloom. Sometimes you may have to cut lower on the stem to retain the shape of your rose bush.

Your vase height will determine what length your stems should be. Cut your stems a few inches longer to allow for mistakes and broken stems.

Place the bottom of the stem into the bucket of hot water. Cut at an angle being careful not to crush the stem. Hold there for about ten seconds then place in your other container. The roses need to remain in the container until the water is room temperature. Refrigerating overnight will also extend vase life.

Display your roses in your home away from direct sunlight, vents, radiators and other appliances that give off heat. Warm temperatures will encourage the roses to fade more quickly. Also keep away from open doors where there is a draft. Petals dry out faster in drafty areas. Roses thrive in well lit and cooler locations.

Care of cut roses means spraying your roses daily with a gentle mist and removing any dying flowers. This is also referred to as dead heading.

Check the water level daily and add warm water and food as needed. When the water becomes cloudy or smells cut the stems as you did before, wash the stems and containers. Use new lukewarm water and rose food. Adding rose food helps to keep the bacteria under control and takes care of roses.

For optimum vase life (over seven day) change the water as above every three days. Rose vase life is generally between four and twelve days.

Once they have reached their conclusion you may want to save them as dried roses. They are not always easy to make but are always worth the try. This will keep the memories alive. Air-dried roses are the simplest method to use. Hang the roses bond together in a bunch. Hang them upside down in a warm and dry location. Wild flowers and garden flowers usually dry well.

You can also dry the rose by placing a heavy object on wrapped roses. The roses should be wrapped with unglazed paper such as a newspaper or telephone book. Drying time is two to four weeks. The draw back is that the flowers are flat, without shape. To avoid flat roses you could try burying them in mixtures such as sand, borax or corn meal. A universal solution is also used and is called silica gel. It is more expensive but can be used over and over.

Getting dried roses with the gel is easy. Store the unused gel in air - tight containers.

The last suggestion for drying roses is to use your microwave. Silica gel is needed for this option. Place a cup of water in the microwave before you place the roses. The water helps to prevent extreme drying. Surround the rose bunch by spreading crystals of silica gel. They need to be in a microwave safe container or flat tray. For denser roses it will take about three minutes. For smaller roses it will take about one minute. Leave the roses in the silica crystals for twelve to twenty four hours. Leave long enough so that the moisture is completely absorbed. Keep in air-tight containers and spray the petals with lacquer.

Take care of cut roses and enjoy!

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