In the middle of winter, there is nothing so warm and inviting as the romance of Valentine’s Day. And, for me, the most cherished Valentine remembrance is a gift of roses. My husband spoils me with these lovelies every year. I just love the presentation! If you have been reading my blog for the last year, you must have figured out that I am a hopeless Victorian romantic. I just melt when he hands me the long, white box with a big red bow on the top! Even though I know what is inside, I pretend I don’t, and my heart just flutters. When the box is open and I actually look at these long-stemmed red beauties so artistically arranged with seasonal greens and baby’s breath and sometimes wax flowers or statice latifolia, I have to sigh…ahh…

Gifting Roses

I have talked with a lot of folks over the years who get worried when they receive roses as a gift. The biggest problem that people have is that the buds droop over after a day or so, or overnight. Other friends have said that the water smells after a few days, and again, the buds droop and never open. Then, other ladies receive arranged roses from the florist shop with all kinds of greens in the water to obscure the stems. It looks really pretty, but within a day…whoops! Blossom droop again. Hmm. What gives?

There are several reasons for droopy blooms. Most of the roses we get nowadays (and especially in winter) come from South America. They were cut sometimes weeks ago, and have been kept refrigerated and held in the dark while they are heading to their destinations. When they arrive, their stems are whacked off and they are stuck in water in a refrigerated case until they show up at our homes as welcome gifts. Poor things have had a rough comeuppance before we get them!

What Not to Do

If we just take our roses and stick them in a vase of cold water, I can pretty much guarantee you that their heads are going to loll over before the blooms even think about opening. Why? The bottoms of the canes seal over pretty quickly when the roses are out of water, so they can’t draw the water up their stems and the bloom will die. Foliage under the water level will begin to decompose rather quickly and will foul the water, and that, too, will prevent your roses from opening. The stuff they do at the florist shop with the fancy foliage in the water looks pretty, but it’s going to kill the arrangement because of the bacteria that will build up in the vase.

So, what’s a rose lover to do to have success with our beloved blooms in a container?

Rose Care

Start with a freshly washed vase. Fill it with really warm water from the tap-it should feel comfortably hot running over your wrist. Use the fresh flower food that is supplied with your bouquet. It will keep the bacteria level way down. Strip all the foliage off your roses and the greens that would wind up below the surface of the water in your container…greens above the water are pretty, but below the water level will cause nothing but problems.

Fill a large bowl with really warm water, and using sharp pruners, cut the rose cane under water on a diagonal (this will make a bigger surface area for the rose to draw up the water and nutrients) in between the areas where you have just stripped off the leaves. Don’t cut directly where the leaf used to be, or the rose may not be able to draw up water. As soon as you have cut your cane, put your rose in the vase and start with the next one.

Why do we use warm water? Because it is much more readily absorbed by the spongy cambium layer in the rose cane. Actually, all plants benefit by being watered with warm water because the roots and soil accept it more easily.

After Assembling

If you assemble your arrangement of roses this way, usually all your blooms will last for quite some time. Once in awhile, though, a head may nod anyway. If this happens, take the rose out of the arrangement, fill a vase with hot water again, cut the base of the cane again as you did before and put it in the fresh vase. Then, take a sharp needle and poke a hole in the base of the bloom just below the petals. Sometimes, a drooping bloom is caused by an air bubble in the vascular system of the plant. The hot water forces the rose to suck up the water, and the air bubble escapes through the hole you poked, and voila! You’ve saved your bloom!

I wish everyone a lovely, romantic Valentine’s Day…a bottle of champagne, a dozen roses, and the sweet company of the one you love. I hope your blooms last two weeks!

Next month, it’s real garden chat time again!