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How to Care for Your Cut Roses so that They Last and Last
By David Elefant

Rose blooms in a vase are a beautiful thing on a table in any room of your home. They add fragrance and serenity wherever they are. Hybrid tea roses are particularly suited to be cut and displayed in a vase and will last a very long time if cared for appropriately.

Roses must always be cut with a sharp and clean pair of shears. If your shears are not sharp the rose’s stem will be crushed, while filthy shears can spread diseases to your other blooms.

Roses should not be cut before 3pm, as they need a good part of the day to stock on nutrients.

Select buds that have not as yet opened more than 1/3 to 1/2. Once a bud has fully opened it’s too late to cut it.

Leave at least 3 leaves on each stem to aid in nourishing the bloom. Cut off all leaves that will below water level in the vase.

When you have finished cutting all the roses you need for the day, begin the water conditioning and hardening processes.

Once you understand, how to keep cut roses alive in a vase, you will be surprised how long they last.



The first thing we have to do is to remove any air that may have entered the stem when it was cut. This air pocket in the stem will reduce the life of the bloom as it moves up to the bloom.

We need to make sure that the air is substituted by water. The best and easiest method is to pour hot water into a bowl; the water should be as hot as you can as you will place your hands in it.

Place a few drops of a floral preservative and bleach into the water.

Put all the cut rose stems into the water. Make sure that the buds do not touch the hot water.

Remove the roses one at a time and with clean shears make a diagonal cut off ¼ of an inch from the end stem. Replace the cut roses back into the bowl until the water is at room temperature.

Now put some warm water into a vase with a drop of bleach and preservatives and place the roses in it.

Once the water begins to get cloudy, remove the roses, and replace with clean hot water add two drops of bleach, and put back the roses to the vase at immediately.

When your rose blooms start wilting, re-cut around a 1/8 inch of the stems and put the stems in hot water for approximately an hour then put them back into the vase.

You won’t believe how the above will allow your cut rose blooms to live in a vase for an extended period of time.

To find more tips on rose gardening and cut roses visit http://www.rose.myzury.com, a site that focuses in giving rose gardening advice, tips and resources that you can use to grow a beautiful rose garden.
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