Roses are beautiful fragrant flowers that feature an infinite variety of colors and sizes. With proper care, they can stay fresh for up to 10 days or more after being cut. If you want to prevent your roses from wilting too soon, make sure you change the water every 2 or 3 days, put them in a very clean vase and keep them in a cool place. Read on for more information on how to keep them looking their best.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Picking the Freshest Roses
Step 1. Cut the roses early in the morning
If you are harvesting them from your bush in the garden to keep them indoors, cut them back in the morning as early as possible, before temperatures start to get too high. If you collect them when it is still a little cold, you avoid them wilting immediately after cutting. Once cut, place the stems in a bucket of fresh clean water.
- Water the bush the night before harvesting the roses. If they are well hydrated, they stay fresh longer than those cut from a bush that hasn't been watered recently.
- When cutting the stems, keep an angle of 45 degrees and make sure that the shears are thoroughly clean.
Step 2. Purchase cut roses from a trusted florist
If you don't want or can't cut roses from your garden, try to buy them from a shopkeeper who has a good reputation, preferably one you have a good relationship with. This will make it easier for you to get fresh cut roses rather than ones that have been in the shop for a week.
- Ask the florist which flowers arrived that morning and try to choose the freshest roses possible.
- Prefer those that come from the cold room, since those that are kept cool last longer than those left at room temperature.
Step 3. Squeeze the roses where the petals meet the stem
This is a sure way to tell if they are still fresh. When you're examining them to decide which ones to buy, gently try squeezing them at the base, where the petals join the stem. If the area feels saggy and sticky, the roses are old and you should avoid buying them. If, on the other hand, you feel that it is firm and resistant, the roses are fresh.
Step 4. Check for bruised or broken petals
Look for those that have well-formed, colorful petals. Look at the tips to make sure they aren't bruised or brown. When you bring the rose house, you may need to remove a couple of outer petals that have been damaged, but you can't do much else to improve the look of the damaged inner petal tips. If the petals are intact, roses are more beautiful to look at and stay fresh longer than deteriorated ones.
Step 5. Keep them in the water on your way home
If the roses are left out of the water, even for a few minutes, they suffer a lot and will not stay fresh for a long time. When you go to the florist you can consider bringing a bucket with a few inches of water with you, so that you have a safe place where the roses can stay well hydrated while you take them home. If you can't get a bucket, ask the florist to pack the roses with water.
Part 2 of 3: Prepare the Stems
Step 1. Cut the stems underwater
This technique allows you to keep the flower fresh by preventing air from entering the lower part of the stem. When the air enters, in fact, the flower immediately begins to deteriorate, following the same process that occurs for apples and avocados which become brown and soft. You can cut the stems under running water or immerse them in a container filled with water.
Step 2. Use a knife or shears
A sharp knife or pair of pruning shears are the best tools for cutting rose stems. A normal pair of scissors crushes the stems preventing them from absorbing water in the most effective way and will cause the flowers to die more quickly. Cut at a distance of 1, 3 - 2, 5 cm from the lower end of the stems or more, if you want to arrange the flowers in a low vase.
- Cut the stems at a 45 ° angle, in this way they can absorb water more easily.
- Make sure the tool you use for cutting is extremely clean. It should be washed with warm soapy water or a mild bleach solution after each use, as bacteria may remain on the tool and transmit to other flowers and affect subsequent pruning.
Step 3. Remove the leaves from the stems
The portion of the stem that remains immersed in water should be completely free of leaves. This is because the submerged ones begin to rot, forming bacteria that accumulate in the vase, accelerating the withering and death of the flower. You can leave a couple of leaves attached towards the top of the stems, but remove anything that ends up underwater.
Step 4. Continue trimming the stems every 2 to 3 days
Cutting the stems every couple of days helps the roses to receive water more effectively, since after a while the tips of the stems tend to bend and get damaged. Use the same technique used the first time you cut them, always making sure you use clean tools and making a cut under water at a 45 ° angle.
Part 3 of 3: Arranging the Roses
Step 1. Use a very clean vase
If you just rinse the vase between uses, the bacteria stay alive and can damage fresh roses. Cleaning the jar involves washing with hot soapy water, taking care to carefully scrub the inside with a bottle brush. Rinse thoroughly before proceeding.
Step 2. Fill the jar with fresh water
Roses require a lot of water when cut. Fill the container 3/4 full with new cold tap water and arrange the flowers so that the ends of the stems reach about 2.5 cm from the bottom of the vase. This way they can get to the water they need to stay fresh.
- Consider adding some nutrients to the water. A little fertilizer will provide the nutrients the roses need to stay fresh longer. When you are in the shop to buy roses, ask the florist for some suitable nutrient packs for your flowers.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of bleach to every quart of water. In this way you reduce the level of bacteria present in the water. The important thing is that you don't put too much, otherwise you can harm the roses.
- Adding a copper dime or aspirin tablet to water is believed to be an effective method of keeping bacteria levels in check.
Step 3. Change the water every 2 to 3 days
Every two days it is important to replace it with new fresh water to prevent bacterial growth from damaging the flowers. Fill the jar with fresh water, other nutrients, and the right amount of bleach. Cut the stems of the roses again, as explained above, and arrange them again in the vase.
Step 4. Keep the roses cool
They stay fresh for many days if you keep them in a cool place indoors. Avoid placing them in front of windows exposed to the sun or in rooms that are on the hottest side of the house. You can also store them in the refrigerator overnight to keep them cool when you sleep and put them back on the table again during the day.
Advice
- Keep cut flowers away from fruit. In fact, fruit releases natural gas which causes the flowers to wilt faster.
- When the flowers begin to wilt, instead of throwing them in the trash, grind them and add them to the compost pile. This way you provide additional nutrients to the soil.
- A biocide is a product that kills bacteria. For cut flowers, you can purchase specific commercial biocides from your florist or garden center. Alternatively, you can make a bactericidal product yourself by combining 1 ml of bleach or 1/2 g of citric acid in a liter of water.
Warnings
- When handling roses with thorns always use gardening gloves to protect your hands and fingers.
- Do not remove the thorns from the roses, otherwise you will accelerate the aging process.
