Tips to Make Your Valentine's Day Roses Last Longer
by
Three Dogs in a Garden
(IC: blogger)
Keep your Valentine's Day roses fresh longer with these simple tips:
As soon as you receive your roses put them in container of water while you look for the perfect vase.
Fill a vase that is sparkling clean with fresh room temperature water. Locate the little packet of flower food that was packed in with your roses. Following the instructions on the packet, add the flower food to the water in your vase (usually I add about a third of the packet to a vase suitable for long stemmed roses).
Cleaning up your Roses:
It's a bit of a bother, but taking the time to remove all the foliage that will fall below the water line in your vase will really help keep the water clean and free of the bacteria that will cause the flowers to wilt.
Here's one of the easiest way to remove the foliage: Grasp each leafy stem and give it a gentle tug downward. The leaf stem will snap off without any damage to the main flower stem.
Arranging them in a Vase:
If your roses wilt in the first couple of days, you can try to revive them by filling the sink or the bathtub with cool water. Give the roses a fresh cut and lay them down in the water. Make sure the cut ends of the stems are submerged! (Weigh them down with something if you have too.)
A dozen roses can drink quite a lot of water, so keep an eye on the water level in your vase. It's also a good idea to change the water on day 3. Add fresh flower food and give the roses a fresh cut before putting them back in the vase.
Roses can be easily dried, so don't throw them into the compost bin. Watch for an upcoming post on drying roses. I also have a pretty project that can be made with a dozen dried sweetheart roses.
Happy Valentine's Day!
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Published February 10th, 2016 9:00 AM
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9 of 25 comments
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Su on Feb 14, 2016Cut Flower Preservative Recipes (from About.com/About Education/Chemistry ) ---Cut Flower Preservative Recipe #1 2 cups lemon-lime carbonated beverage (e.g., Sprite™ or 7-Up™) 1/2 teaspoon household chlorine bleach 2 cups warm water ---Cut Flower Preservative Recipe #2 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon household chlorine bleach 1 quart warm water ---Cut Flower Preservative Recipe #3 2 tablespoons white vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon household chlorine bleach 1 quart warm water Updated February 13, 2016
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Three Dogs in a Garden on Feb 15, 2016@Su Thanks for sharing this Su.
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Sonia Burrows on Feb 14, 2016I re-cut the roses every day, under water, and then place them in fresh water mixed with the floral packet. I've found that doing this everyday can get roses to last 2 weeks. The more expensive rose will last even longer. I find the more inexpensive rose tend to collapse and totally submerging them in lukewarm water for a couple of hours will revive them.
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Three Dogs in a Garden on Feb 15, 2016@Sonia Burrows Thanks for sharing your own tips Sonia!
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Sonia Burrows on Feb 15, 2016@Three Dogs in a Garden Thanks for sharing the cut flower recipes.
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Three Dogs in a Garden on Feb 26, 2016@Karen Criner Roses have a woody stem that can be crushed or damaged with scissors. It is easy to cut the stems with a knife if you have a good one. Removing foliage that falls below the water level in a vase, changing the water and using flower food can also help other types of flowers last longer.
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Sonia Burrows on Feb 26, 2016Scissors cut towards each other which causes both sides of the flowers wall to collapse towards each other, whereas a knife slices from one side to the other
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Sonia Burrows on Feb 26, 2016Karen, I don't see why it wouldn't work for other flowers. The important thing is to make sure the flower walls don't collapse.
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Frequently asked questions
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I’m trying to figure out what steps I take next after the roses are dry!? How to keep them preserved after the drying process is done how do I keep my upside down dryed roses last long as possibl? Is there something to spray on them or some way to somehow glue them or parts of them?