Florist Guide for prepping roses

Florist Guide – Prepping Roses 101

Posted by Idalina Floranext on Jan 25, 2017 in Blog, design prepping, Floral Design, Florist Resources, Valentine's Day | 

Prepping roses is the key ingredient in providing customers with a long lasting arrangement.

With a busy Valentine’s Day just around the corner, in this blog we will focus on prepping roses for maximum longevity.

image via pexels.com

Good To Know

• Roses are packed 25 stems in a bunch and come in these lengths of 40cm, 50cm, 60cm and 70cm. The longer the length of the rose stem, the bloom size is (typically).
• Crystal Clear flower food delivers ingredients to hydrate your roses and other flower stems.
• Quick Dip is an instant hydrating treatment.
• The 60 cm Freedom rose is most used by florists on Valentine’s Day.
• Guard petals are the outer petals that have a tear or damage with tiny blemishes.

image via shutterstock.com

Prepping Rose Buckets

Flower buckets need to be cleaned thoroughly. Poorly cleaning your buckets will wilt your roses. This is an important step in quickly hydrating your roses. Their first drink is most important!

1. Wash flower buckets thoroughly. Be sure to get in all the corners and remembering to remove all bacteria.
2. Clean buckets with DCD or a vinegar solution of: 70% vinegar-30%water and a splash of lemon or lime juice.  This is a natural cleaner.  NO SOAP of any kind. ( this is the flower classroom formula for clean buckets)
3. After buckets are cleaned, fill buckets half way with cool water and add Crystal Clear.

Tip: Be sure to maintain a clean environment before the roses arrive.  Always keep your cooler clean and free of bacteria. 

image via shutterstock.com

Processing /Prepping Roses

1. Cut the bottom of your rose stems by one inch or so. Be sure to cut on a slight angle.
2. Be sure (if you remove them from their wrappings) to not leave any foliage below the water line as this will create rot.
3. Removing thorns can be simply done by pushing on the thorn. Do not remove the whole thorn as this will let air in the stem.
4. It’s highly recommended that all roses be dipped in Quick Dip. Hold roses in solution for a few seconds and then add to your rose bucket.
5. Let your roses sit in the water bucket for approximately 1-2 hours outside the cooler, then transferring them to cooler for 24 hours (if possible) before using.
6. Once ready to arrange, take the guard petals off the rose. This is a crucial step in a making a beautiful rose arrangement.

image via pexels.com

Arranging One Dozen Roses

Mastered by florists, one dozen rose arrangements are one of the biggest sellers in the floral industry. For those who are new to floral design, here are some simple steps in arranging one dozen roses.

1. Choose your vase. One dozen roses look beautiful in a variety of tall vases. Add cool water about 3/4 of the way to top and add flower food.
2. Select your roses. Look over your roses and be sure to remove guard petals that look brown and all foliage below the water line.
3. If you are adding greens to your one dozen rose arrangement, you may start by adding the greens first. This does vary by florist as some like to add them after the roses. Do what feels right to you, as long as the finished product looks balanced.
4. Add you long stem roses to a vase (one in each direction) and then add roses filling in all spaces. Remember your floral design basics of balance, harmony, proportion, movement and unity.
5. At this stage, you may add any filler you like by filling in any sparse areas or leaving it as is.

Florists, have any great tips on processing or arranging roses? We would love to hear about them, please share them below with our readers.

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Christina Burton-Fox AIFD floral artist & instructor