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Cut it out - Ten Timely Tips for Cutting your Roses |
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Written by Chad Cook
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Thursday, 11 January 2007 |
Cut it out - Ten Timely Tips for Cutting your Roses
There is nothing more uplifting than a bouquet of luscious, sweet scented roses. Few other plants can be displayed as beautifully as roses. Their heavenly perfume and the sight of tender buds blossoming, can brighten up the greyest of days. Enjoy a bowl of red roses in the centre of the dinner table, or an arrangement of yellow roses gracing your bureau. Fresh cut roses can permeate your home with positive, natural energy.
Of course, it's sad when the time comes to discard the wilted roses. Wouldn't it be wonderful if their beauty could be maintained forever? Well, you might not be able to keep your roses alive forever but you can do the next best thing. Keep your roses fresh for much, much, longer by cutting them properly.
You don't have to be a major Rosarian or a horticulturist to cut roses. But it helps if you know that there is a method to cutting roses that will produce better results than simply snipping them and tossing them in a vase. By following a few easy steps you can help to keep your fresh cut roses alive and beautiful longer.
First, before you go out into the garden, get a pail and fill it about half full of hot water. Take a holding container filled with hot water as well. After cutting, put the roses in the bucket and cut off about half an inch of stem at an angle beneath the water line. Let the roses stand in the water for ten seconds. Then transfer them to the holding container and leave them there until the water cools to room temperature.
When picking, choose flowers with longer stems so you have enough length to recut them to size when you are ready to arrange them. Use clean shears that are very sharp for precise cuts, and always cut above the bud to ensure that future growth is not affected. You want to be able to keep cutting roses in the future.
The best time to cut roses is when the temperature cools. So you will either have to get up with the roosters, or wait until late in the afternoon. This is when the bloom and upper cane of the rose will have the most plant sugar in it. The worst time to cut roses is in the middle of the day, or whenever the temperature goes up. Carefully search for the roses that are close to their optimum stage of development, as well as buds that are opening but not completely in bloom.
Be careful not to cut off too many leaves at once. You want to fill out your arrangement, but not at the cost of your roses. If you don't leave at least three leaves on a rose stem, you will starve the plant.
Discard any leaves that will wind up below the water line in the vase. Your roses will need more than water to survive after they're cut. Your roses will require a little more help to maintain their lovely freshness. Be sure to add a floral preservative. Or if there is none handy, mix a bit of lemon juice and sugar together and add it to the vase.
Roses need a tidy bowl to live in. Change the water as soon as it starts to get dirty. Also, give your roses time to get used to their new environment before they wilt. Store them in a shady low temperature area before you show them off and any time you leave the house.
If your roses start to wilt don't panic. Try cutting the ends of the stems again and place them in luke warm water for about an hour. This will help water travel better through the stems and inhibit wilting for a while. One more tip for extending the life of your roses is to keep the roses in the refrigerator over night. This will preserve your roses for an optimum amount of time.
Roses seem made for cutting, and these very easy steps can really make a difference to the length of time you will be able to enjoy them. If you provide them with a favorable environment they will last a great deal longer than most flowers after being cut. |