Golden Rules For Cutting Valentine’s Day Roses

Golden Rules For Cutting Valentine's Day Roses

Roses are, without a doubt, the most popular flowers for Valentine's Day. More precisely, red roses are the beautiful blooms most sought after around this time of year. That said, if you have ever visited a florist around Valentine's Day, you should be familiar with the fact that rose prices are likely to spike due to the great demand. That said, for those who are fortunate enough to live in warmer areas where roses bloom in February or if you have your own personal greenhouse, you should know how to make the most of your hard work by giving your Valentine a very personal gift.

Be prepared

Planning is essential so make sure that you have everything you need before you head out to source the freshest flowers in your garden. You will need a pair of pruning shears, some thick gardening gloves to prevent any thorns from pricking you and a bucket with some clean, warm water (not hot). Wash your shears properly before you head out and make sure that you have an extra bucket to clean your shears if you are cutting from more than one plant. This helps prevent the possible transmission of diseases from bush to bush.

Timing is crucial

When picking roses, you will want to plan to do so after 3pm. At this time of the day, the plant and flowers' food reserves will reach their highest which means that your cut flowers will last longer.

Choose nothing but the best

When you see your rose bush blooming gloriously, you might be tempted to pluck the largest, wide opened flowers from the plant. Resist this urge and seek out the buds instead. Don't pick green or tightly wrapped buds but rather look for those that have just started to open up and greet the world with their sweet perfume and perfect petals. Fully opened roses will not last long before they begin to lose their petals and tightly closed buds may not open if cut prematurely. Check each flower and stem for any sort of damage. Remember that the guard petals on each flower (those that have a hint of green and are on the very exterior of the flower) are there to protect the precious petals inside. These guard petals should be removed so don't worry too much if they look a bit damaged. It just means that they were doing their job to protect the flower.

Not too much

When you cut each stem, make sure that you only snip off as much as you need. Try to cut each flower stem the same length so that you don't have any odd flowers or are forced to do major trimming afterwards.

Quench their thirst

Roses are thirsty flowers and so you should make sure that you place each stem in your bucket of clean water immediately after it has been cut.

Time for some pampering

Once you have cut all the roses you need, it's time to pamper them so that they, in turn, can pamper the lucky recipient. So, get them indoors immediately and trim each stem at an angle to improve water absorption. Make sure that all the stems are trimmed to the same length and, while you're at it, remove excess leaves too. If you have a thorn stripper, you can use it to clean up the stems and prevent the recipient from any painful surprises. Alternatively, use a sharp knife to gently remove each thorn one at a time.