Garden expert Pat Welsh shares some tips on keeping cut roses bloomin' beautiful. Cut roses in the evening, place the blooms in a black plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator for 6 to 12 hours to prevent the buds from drooping. The next morning, remove the roses from the bag and submerge them completely in a bathtub or sink filled with lukewarm water for about 20 minutes. While the flowers are soaking, prepare a floral preservative made of 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 quart warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon household bleach. An alternative recipe is 1 pint water, 1 pint lemon-lime soda and 1/2 teaspoon bleach. Remove roses from the bath and strip off the lower leaves so that foliage won't be underwater in the vase. Recut the stems underwater, then transfer them to the vase. After you've prepared roses in this manner, they may last as long as one week. Try to cut garden roses with as long a stem as possible. Long-stemmed blooms not only look better in a vase but they also benefit the plant. If you cut the stems short, the next crop of flowers will have short, stubby stems. If you want perfect roses, cut longer stems. It takes longer for new flowers to develop, but they're worth the wait. These techniques also work well for florist roses. Drying Roses If you intend to dry roses, cut them from the plant when the buds are only partly open (figure A). Hang rosebuds upside down in a dark, warm, dry place such as an attic or a garage. It may take a week or more for rosebuds to dry completely. After the roses are crisp to the touch, mist them with hair spray to keep them from losing petals and prevent the leaves from shattering. You can also dry flowers in silica gel. Pour a layer of the gel crystals into a shallow pan. Cut the stems of the flowers short, and place the blossoms on the gel, making sure the petals are open a little way. Cover the flowers completely with more gel crystals, but don't cover the container. Follow package directions for the proper drying time for various flowers. Thin-petaled flowers take about five days to dry; thick petals or fleshy flowers take about 14 days. Silica gel may be used more than once if it's dried in the oven.
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