Conditioning your Roses for Longevity

By Tom Castronovo Executive Editor/Publisher Gardener News

When you think of Valentine’s Day flowers, you think of red roses, right? Not so fast. There are other colors that will wow your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day including orange, peach, pink, purple, yellow and white. Each color has a different meaning. Your local florist should be able to help you decide.

While red is a traditional Valentine’s Day color, all roses basically need the same quality of care.

Let’s start from the actual plant.

Once a rose is harvested and removed from the mother plant for cut rose use, many physiological and biochemical changes are triggered within the cut rose that need to be carefully monitored and corrected for optimum quality and longevity.

In most cases, cut roses placed in a container should last one week, possibly longer, based on care. The life of a cut rose can depend on the type of rose, how long it went without water, and how healthy the rose plant was.

Examine roses before making your purchase, especially a premade bouquet from a (Cont. on Page 17)