Flower Tips
Buying The Perfect Valentine’s Day Roses

Proper Hydration

Often I get asked, “why when I buy roses at the grocery store, do they droop over in a day and die?” The culprit: poor hydration. In many grocery stores, roses are brought in from the vendor and put in water immediately, without proper care and hydration. Also, many flower products in a grocery store are kept out of refrigeration, shortening their vase life. The majority of commercial roses are grown in Equator, Columbia, Canada and California. Because of the time and distance they must travel before they arrive in a store, they are cold packed and shipped without water. By the time, they reach the retail level they can be as old as 3-5 days from the time they were cut at the farm. During a holiday period, such as Valentine’s Day, where millions of roses are shipped to the U.S., the time between the rose being cut and shipped to the store can be as many as 7-10 days. When they arrive at a store they are very thirsty and limp. They need to be cut at a 90 degree angle, put in a hydration fluid and left at room temperature for about an hour. The rose must absorb an adequate amount of water in order to properly hydrate the flower. The process, called “hardening off”, allows the stem to draw water and feed it to the flower. Once the rose becomes firm, it can be placed in a cooler, ideally around 37-41 degrees. Without this process of hydration and storage, a rose will wilt and die prematurely.

Evaluating freshness

The average consumer looks at a rose and if it appears tight and the petals yet unfurled, they assume it is fresh. This is not always the case. There are thousands of roses on the market and new varieties are grown and introduced each year. Some roses are grown to be full and appear that way when they are cut. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will last fewer days than a tight rose. A better way to assure that a rose is fresh is to feel the bloom. In general, if it is hard and the stem is relatively straight, it is a fresh rose. However, there are some varieties which are slightly soft to the touch, such as a sweet unique or esperanze rose. These roses, while softer to the touch, will open wide and last just as long as a tighter rose. In the February 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living, there is an article on roses, which features many rose varieties from Harvest Wholesale Florist, the wholesaler we’ve been buying our roses from since we opened.

Red Roses

About 80% of the orders we deliver on Valentine’s Day are red roses. The color red symbolizes love and most men will send this sentiment to their loved one. While there are many varieties of red roses, there are two that I generally recommend, especially for Valentines Day. The freedom rose and the black magic rose are my favorites. The freedom rose, has a true red color and opens only about 70%. It consistently lasts longer than other red roses. For a special red rose, I like to use a black magic. This rose is darker red in color, almost burgundy, and its petals have the appearance of red velvet. It’s a romantic rose, opening quickly and staying open wide. I like it for its unique texture and color.

Cost

Ever wonder why Valentine’s Day roses are so expensive? It all has to do with supply and demand. If you think about all the millions of red roses sold on that day, growers have to cultivate and harvest the highest quantity of red roses within a two week period. That means all the conditions – climate, temperature, fertilization, labor, shipping, etc. must be perfect. Because of this, roses are sold to the retailers at a premium – usually two to three times the normal cost for the same product any other time of the year. The high costs are passed on to the retailer and the retailer must charge the consumer a premium. While there are inexpensive rose prices out there, these products are generally not fresh and are not top quality. If you’ve ever been to a rose farm, it’s amazing to see the process that goes into growing a rose – it is truly art and science at work.

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Buying The Perfect Valentine’s Day Roses